


Shadow and Falcon

by AzureLightningEmeraldCloud



Series: Sapphic Star Wars Stories From A Certain Point of View [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Legends: Force Unleashed - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Badass Rey, F/F, barrissoka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-05-09 11:47:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5538692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzureLightningEmeraldCloud/pseuds/AzureLightningEmeraldCloud
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is my version of The Force Awakens featuring Barriss Offee and Ahsoka Tano from Clone Wars, and Galen Marek and Juno Eclipse from The Force Unleashed. The basic plot adheres to the film, but with some choice alterations involving these characters. Also, Rey is super badass here, as she was in the film, and isn't afraid to go after that really hot lady x-wing pilot, though romance isn't the focus of this story. It just pops up once in a while in hopefully poignant ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Awakening in the Cantina

“HAAAN SOLOOO!” Maz Kanata admonished the newcomer from across her cantina. The man she addressed stopped and gave an exasperated sigh as every eye in the cantina was directed at him, all eyes but two. Those eyes belonged to the Stranger at the bar who hadn’t even turned to face the new spectacle. As everybody slowly returned to their own business and Han Solo and what looked like his crew followed Maz to a table near the back of the cantina. There was something different about the girl though. The Stranger turned slightly to catch a glimpse of her as she went after the other younger crewmember and started speaking hurriedly with him with a broken look on her face. As the leather clad crewmember walked out the door, leaving the girl staring after him, there was a disturbance in the Force.  
No. The Stranger realised, it wasn’t a disturbance, it was an Awakening. The girl descended the stairs into the basement of Maz’s cantina as the Stranger tapped his empty cup and got a refill of blue milk. Maz and Han were embroiled in an argument about the girl who went into the basement. Maz said something that made Han recoil with his hands in the air, he looks at the Wookie who slightly ashamedly nodded, confirming whatever point Maz was trying to make. The Stranger chuckled at the gobsmacked look on the mythic smuggler’s face before suddenly turning to face the stairs. Out of the corner of his right eye, he saw Maz Kanata stop laughing and do the exact same thing.  
“Rey, these are your first steps”  
The Stranger felt, rather than heard these words, cutting through the din of Maz’s Cantina as he reconsidered taking another sip of his blue milk and put his cup on the bar. He held out his hand and saw it tremble, felt chills crawl over the nape of his neck. He looked toward Maz to find she had gone, probably downstairs to confront the girl. He heard a young woman shout, “I’m never touching that thing again!”  
A tall, pretty, young woman leapt up the stairs leading to the basement and flew through the throng of patrons, not crashing into anyone, expertly weaving between various drunk patrons, not hearing Maz Kanata’s left behind huff of exasperation as she burst out of the main doors and continued into the woods nearby, desperately trying to get away from something in the basement. As soon as he saw her, he felt the fabric of the Force tremble, and not subtly. This was no normal Force user.  
The Stranger watched the young force user flee from Maz’s Cantina. He chuckled to himself, as he peered at Maz and Han Solo across the room quickly discussing something that made Han gasp and quickly look to the door from which the female force user departed.  
Hollow, the lean figure felt, as there was suddenly fire in the sky. He didn’t bother rushing out of the cantina with everyone else, he just slumped in his seat as he felt the Hoznian system, five worlds teeming with the worst and best of humanity, turn to dust. Maz returned leading Han Solo, their Wookie companion, who must be the mighty Chewbacca if the stories were to be believed, and another person with clad in a smart leather jacket and the four of them descended into the basement after Maz. The new man in the leather jacket was little more than a boy, maybe into his early twenties? The Stranger caught one word from his quick whispering to Solo: “First Order”.  
The Stranger took out his communicator and looked at it for a moment. He took out a few credits and left it on the bar. Activating his communicator he said, “Juno, there’s been an awakening in the Force. The source is a young girl.” he paused for a moment and felt the girl’s fear as she fled further into the forest before continuing, “I have felt nothing like this in my lifetime. And she’s going to need our help.” He glanced upward as he made his way towards the exit of the cantina, still on the communicator, “Be advised, there will be a battle in a matter of minutes.” He could already feel the young and powerful Dark Side Force user approaching in his giant black-winged shuttle.  
“Alright, Galen, I’m on my way. “ Far above the cantina, in orbit, a ship just under twice the size of the Millennium Falcon began to fall to ground and then vanished as Juno activated stealth mode, speeding to the ground at a prodigious rate. At the helm was one of the greatest pilots to ever fly for The Galactic Empire, Juno Eclipse.  
Galen Marek’s clone, who goes by the name of his long-dead progenitor stepped into the sunlight, clad in a combat-ready light armour adorned with the insignia the Rebel Alliance adopted in their original campaign against the Empire. After all, following the death of the first Galen Marek, Leia and Bail Organa organized a meeting in the run down hut of the deceased house of Marek. It was the young Leia who suggested they use the family crest to represent their Alliance, to honour the memory of their mysterious friend who sacrificed his life so that the Rebellion against The Emperor and Darth Vader could live.  
Han Solo and Chewbacca appeared at the top of the stairs as Marek opened the door. Explosions rang out as the TIE fighters made their presence known. Reconsidering going outside just then, Marek closed and bolted the doors, then he turned to face the eclectic group of rogues who had just emerged from the stairs to the basement: two humans, a Wookie, and the ancient, passive, force user Maz Kanata. The boy in the leather jacket, Galen noticed, carried a lightsabers that he hadn’t been holding before, probably the catalyst for the girl from before to cause a pulse in the living Force. Before they could all do more than give each other curious glances, the roof opened up in a burst of emerald light as everything started crashing down.


	2. Part II: The Invisible Eclipse in the Sky

“Captain Eclipse, we have about thirty TIE fighters swarming around my master’s location, should we do anything about that? It would be a shame for me to be unable to fulfil my programing because of these pesky First Order pilots,” Proxy drawled in his oddly chipper voice from the training area in the aft of the Rogue Shadow.   
Proxy, the incredibly sophisticated training droid made his way into the co-pilot’s chair as Captain Juno Eclipse as she evened out her rapid descent. The woman at the helm scowled for a moment before replying, “I think it’ll take more than a few TIEs to kill Galen. For the moment we won’t engage until they disperse a bit so we can take them down one at a time rather than have them all return fire at us as a united front.” She paused for a minute before turning to her friendlily sadistic companion, “I thought Galen overwrote your base programing that Darth Vader saddled you with.”  
“Well, no. He considered it, but decided that I keep him on his toes when I’m still programmed to kill him one day.” Proxy replied with glee. Juno just rolled her eyes and returned her full attention to flying the ship. The castle in which the cantina resided began to crumble as two TIE fighters did a fly-by, beaming it twice in the towers. They peeled off away from the rest, flying over the forest. Scarecely watching the place collapse; Juno accelerated, overtaking them, and then flipping around, switching on the relatively recently installed reverse thrusters, keeping pace with them while facing them at the same time. Captain Eclipse briefly lifted the active camouflage and fired two quick shots into the cockpits of the TIEs killing them both instantly. After watching both burning husks crash into the woods, Juno flipped the ship again into active camouflage mode and turned back on the forward thrusters, bringing the ship about for a pass to surveil the ruins of Maz’s Cantina.   
“Galen, are you there? Looks like you got a roof dropped on you a little bit.” Juno spoke into the dashboard communicator with her lilty snark. There was about a ten second silence before she got her reply.   
“Juno? You didn’t let Proxy try to kill me did you? I had to save some people with the Force, though it seems they aren’t normal since Maz seems to trust them.” Galen replied jokingly, if a little strained. Juno glanced down at the ruins to see a large section of rubble shift to reveal a Wookie and an older fellow step out into the firefight weapons blazing, with storm troopers paying the price.  
“Galen, we’ve got some X-wings inbound, so there’s going t be some more fire in the sky. When they arrive I’m going to deactivate camo and properly join the fight.” She paused, looking at the indicator on her dash, she addressed Proxy, “ Grab my blade and put some armour on, there isn’t much more we can do from the sky that’ll make a difference.” Proxy nodded and withdrew to the vault where the weapons and armour were kept.   
As she was hoping, the X-wing pilots proved to be a match for the TIE pilots, in three cases, far more than a match for their First Order counterparts. Wow, one of them took down at least eight of them in quick succession and the two fighters who re-joined it in a flanking position put several away apiece as well. Proxy had returned, handing his captain an ornate silver hilt trimmed with black and gold. She clipped it to her belt opposite her blaster. The special black-winged shuttle was just departing; maybe there was one thing that she could do. The Rogue Shadow ascended with the winged shuttle, active camouflage engaged again as Captain Eclipse readied her shot. As if on cue, Starkiller came back on the comms, “Juno! Don’t shoot down the shuttle. The girl with the Force is on there!” Juno’s hands relaxed on the trigger and she fell back as the shuttle and its escort ascended into high atmosphere while she brought the Rogue Shadow back around towards the wrecked cantina.   
“Well, the shuttle’s gone obviously, I’m coming down to you now. Any luck locating who we were looking for?” Juno replied resigned, sitting back in her chair as she eased into a controlled descent on the edge of the forest.  
The rest of the TIE fighters had left following the exit of their commanding officer in the shuttle no doubt. Captain Eclipse disengaged the active camouflage, settling her ship down adjacent the Millennium Falcon. “I’m afraid not, Maz said they left before we even got here. I think Hondo might be throwing us for another loop. We’ll have to check in with him later, but things have changed.” Starkiller hesitated before adding, “I feel we might be needed here.” Galen shut off his comms, as Juno emerged from her cabin adorned in a mobile armoured suit of Mandalorian origin, with a few choice alterations made by Juno since the original make left some glaring vulnerabilities and pink just wasn't her colour anyway. It was a bit lighter than the ones that Proxy and Galen wore, since they had advanced mechanics and the Force to aid their respective movements. But the contrast in the weight of their armours allowed Juno to move quicker quieter, befitting a stealth-minded fighter like her anyway. Starkiller and Proxy didn’t have Mandalorian armour as Juno’s was a gift from one of her old friends who used to run with the Rebel Alliance, a young woman at that time named Sabine Ren. The ramp lowered amid the smoke as Juno Eclipse and Proxy disembarked, heading for the others. “I suppose we’ll have to postpone our daily sparing sessions for the foreseeable future until this mess is sorted,” Juno said as they navigated around the mangled corpses of both bar patron and storm trooper alike.   
“I believe you are correct, though I believe a few missed training sessions will hinder you much. For a non-dominant Force user, you are a prodigious study in the known forms of lightsaber combat. Lord Vader himself would’ve been pleased” Proxy supplied encouragingly.   
“Nonsense. That thing thought of me as nothing more than leverage, and besides, Darth Vader’s approval was limited to acts of murder, so I’m afraid I’d have ended up disappointing him anyway.” Juno replied flippantly, though inwardly smiling at Proxy’s praise, his invocation of that long dead Sith Lord was the highest praise he knew. “I’m still no match for a fully-trained Jedi or Sith. But anything less than that would be contestable. Even with a prosthetic arm,” Juno bent to pick up a small stone in her now ironically dominant left hand and crushed it into dust to illustrate her point. Juno peered around the wreckage, looking for her friend. Instead, her eyes found a young man sprinting through the rubble clutching a lightsaber in his right hand. Well, that’s certainly something not seen every decade, Juno beckoned to Proxy as they followed the young man to the rest of his party.   
Han Solo. So that’s why things changed, Juno surmised as she passed the old smuggler ogling a descending shuttle; a legendary reputation for attracting trouble, and in the same cantina that was bombed by the First Order; which happened to be the cantina owned by Maz Kanata of all people, to which they were directed by Hondo, who had his own turbulent relationship with the Old Jedi Order if the Galactic Empire’s records were to be trusted. Galen would say it’s the will of the Force, but as relative outsider, Juno just considered theses events lining up to be nothing short of irritating if mildly interesting.   
Like a delayed action bomb, something that Proxy said earlier hit her, “What do you mean non-dominant Force user?” She turned to Proxy as they continued to walk around the ruins.   
“Master Galen says that the living force touches all. Though only precious few have the rapport with it that a Jedi or a Sith would. Everyone’s on the spectrum, it’s why there were Jedi he was able to defeat with far less time spent using the force, it’s not all about effort. The Force affects everything, from lightsaber combat to piloting to successful and intelligent diplomatic skills. Non-dominant only means that you don’t access it as readily as Master Galen or the Jedi of old. But you still have it. Everybody does. At least according to what my master says and archive records I’ve come across that were in the possession of Darth Vader at the time of his death.” Proxy finished his explanation as they both laid eyes on their friend Galen Marek, also known interchangeably as Starkiller, though less frequently called that since The First Order filched that name from the archives of the Galactic Empire, seeking a name for their now planet-murdering base. They apparently found the Starkiller moniker applicable since the records showed him to be a dangerous experiment that went wrong, costing the Empire several Destroyers and a frightful plurality of casualties: a nightmare for foot soldiers of the Empire, officer and storm trooper alike.   
“Master!” Proxy exclaimed as they came face to face with Galen. He was coated with dust, but other than that he was unfazed by the First Order’s attack. He smiled at the appearance of his friends and was accompanied by the renowned Maz Kanata. The small sage looked up at the new arrivals and nodded at Juno, “Fancy flying Captain.” she said with a twinkle in her magnified eyes.   
Juno smiled and nodded her thanks, though her brow furrowed a smidge, wondering if, then how the little creature knew it was her who shot down the pilots who blew up the cantina. Then it clicked, of course it did, the Force, that’s how. “So,“ she addressed both of the adept Force users in front of her with the only important question really, “Why did you stop me from sinking the Black-wing? Who’s the girl?”


	3. The Girl In Question

Part III: The Girl in Question

Starkiller Base

"Rey…These are your first steps"

Who said that? How could she hear them and feel the calm of those words but also feel the blood of children on her hands as she held the weapon? Why did she remember the dark figures in the rain and all the screaming? He was stalking toward her, a very tall creature in a mask, carrying a red sword.

She awoke with a start opposite the creature in the mask. She glanced around, and felt her restraints, and knew there was no one coming to rescuer her now. But that's all right, she told herself, no one was ever coming, the story of her life really. Her eyes settled on the only other figure in the room: the creature in the mask. Once she confirmed that he hadn't murdered her friends, she said what she felt, causing a shift in him she didn't expect, he reached up and removed his mask.

Resistance Base

"Who is the girl?" Juno repeated when neither Maz nor Galen answered her the first time back in the ruins of Maz's castle and both preceded to board the Falcon instead. Galen had thrown her an apologetic expression saying, "There are a few other people who should be here for this conversation, so we'll have it at the Resistance Base." Juno shrugged and strutted back to the Falcon, taking out her blaster and killing a storm trooper who was trying to crawl away into the woods, trying to wrap her head around this whole odd situation.

Hours later, they landed at the Resistance base and the relevant people were gathered in a medium sized room, sealed shut. The members of this little exclusive meeting were General Organa since she was in charge of this whole resistance movement, her immediate subordinates Admiral Statura and Admiral Ackbar. The crew of the Millennium Falcon: Chewbacca, Finn, and Han Solo. General Leia also included her three best X-wing pilots Poe Dameron, Snap Wexley, and Jess Testor. The outsiders: Maz, Proxy, Galen, and Juno were there as well.

The Captain of the Rogue Shadow started the discussion by repeating her question, "Who is the girl that this Kylo Ren abducted," she emphasized the name wondering if she'd get a reaction out of anyone. She did, Poe Dameron not quite flinched, but his look hardened; Juno made note of that.

"Her name is Rey," said the young man with the lightsaber, "and I'm Finn by the way. We need to go get her now," he finished looking imploringly at Han Solo.

Galen Marek chuckled, drawing a poisonous look from Finn, "how long have you known Rey?" the clone force user asked.

"Several Days," Han Solo interjected before Finn could reply. "They had just evaded TIE fighters on Jakku before Chewy and I caught them. " Han looked at this thin man with the aged rebel insignia etched into his shoulder plate," who are you? You're obviously talented with the force, are you one of Luke's surviving students?"

"No. But I think Rey might be." this drew a small gasp from several people around the table. "I was named Starkiller on Kamino where I was born. I'm the clone of Darth Vader's apprentice he raised to help him kill the Emperor and conquer the galaxy. Obviously things didn't turn out the way my old master wanted. My progenitor while having committed unquestionably evil acts died to give the original rebel alliance life." at this point he turned towards Leia, "I have his memories somehow. I remember meeting you as a teenager on Kashyyyk, and I remember pulling down a star destroyer on Raxus Prime… I remember defeating Vader, and how he looked under his shattered helmet…I remember dying to give the senators including your father a chance to escape. And then I had all sorts of new adventures in this body. It's odd, remembering things of a dead man's life, but that's our strong connection to the Force in action I suppose." Galen looked at Juno briefly and she reached out and took his hand hanging by his side and squeezed it gently. "Leia, Juno tells me that after the original Galen Marek died, you went to his home on Kashyyyk, the one his father and mother built, and it was there you used my family crest as the insignia of your fledgling rebellion," Leia was looking at him with a new intensity, and she nodded curtly. "Thanks for that honour" Galen finished awkwardly, hands twisting in his pockets nervously.

Jess Testor, the only other female pilot in the room Juno noted irksomely, spoke up boldly, "Evil acts? I'm sorry, but I'd like to know who I'm gonna be fighting with."

"As Darth Vader's apprentice I killed the two Jedi Shaak Ti and Kasdan Paratus." Galen at this point realised trying to extricate himself from the acts of his predecessor would only cause confusion and decided to own up to the original's treacherous acts. After all, he did remember doing them. "I tried and failed to kill General Rahm Kota, but he ended up teaching me everything I know about the Light Side of the Force before he died."

Jess simply nodded while Snap looked slightly horrified and Poe pursed his lips. Finn however met Galen's eye as an understanding passed between them, they both to differing degrees granted, but still both of them understood trying to come back from horrific deeds. "Maz and I were talking on the way here, and we've both reached the conclusion-"

"I can speak for myself well enough old man," Maz interrupted nonchalantly. Galen just put his hands up in submission, ceding the floor. "Old Galen and I have established that Rey is an unusually powerful being, Galen likened her sheer power to his old master, possibly rivaling the Emperor," she said nodding at Starkiller who nodded in return.

Poe replied quickly, "But he got into my head using the Force! I couldn't stop him, it wasn't like being tortured the normal way, I handled that... this was somethin' else."

Finn reached out and put a hand on his new friend's shoulder and they locked eyes for a moment in solidarity before Poe turned his eyes back to Starkiller. Galen took a moment to look him in the eye until the young pilot had calmed a little, "I can feel all of your worry, well, those of you who know Rey and the predicament she's in." Galen started slowly, looking in turn at Han, Chewy, Finn, and then at General Leia and back at Poe. "And while I can't reassure you completely as the situation is indeed dire, I wouldn't worry too much about Rey. Her Force presence nearly dwarfed that of the man who took her away, who himself was certainly no average Force user. She's untrained, true; but I have a feeling that if Kylo Ren tries to extract information using the Force, he'll certainly be feeling an awakening unlike anything he has felt before," Starkiller finished with a smirk.

Starkiller Base

" I see the Island…"

He was in her…She could feel him probing her mind, her innermost thoughts; her dreams. She wanted to scream but she couldn't even bring herself to open her mouth. The images flashing through her head seemed familiar, connected; like memories. The rain soaked battlefield littered with corpses, the island in the great ocean, she wanted to see more, despite the pain. Kylo Ren stepped back and extended his hand as she clenched her teeth in agony. While her curiosity was present, she needed him OUT OF HER HEAD NOW NOW NOW! He faltered and she felt it. She suddenly felt something, her hairs stood up on end, all over her body and she felt cloaked in something she couldn't begin to describe other than it felt like home, and it felt right. He wasn't out of her yet, she mustered all of her strength and pushed back, wrapping that cloak around her and pushing him out with her eyes and her clenched teeth. And suddenly she was alone in her mind again. The creature unmasked looked horrified, it was his turn to grit his teeth as Rey pressed her advantage, trying to strike him back in any way she could.

A mechanic deep breathing sound filled her ears and the mask of red-tinted darkness her filled vision. She had only felt such a thing when she touched that silver hilt back in the underground room of Maz's castle. But this was so much worse, she suddenly felt so very small and scared, her hands fumbling with a flawed crystal trying to build a red blazing sword but no matter what she could do she couldn't get it to stop sputtering energy and stabilize, she couldn't hold her breath as long as the others in the lake, run as fast through the forest, fight as long in sparing sessions. But she felt afraid, and all the fear of disappointment revolved around the word grandfather…but this wasn't her. These fears, and memories, they weren't hers, she recoiled but not before a name popped into her head: Darth Vader, that's who grandfather was. This was her attacker's fear, and he felt it so strongly it made Rey want to gag.

"You're afraid." She started, pushing deeper into his fear-ridden consciousness," You're afraid you'll never be as strong as Darth Vader," she spat, shocking him into silence and fury. Without a word he fled from the room, reeking of fear, and Rey could feel it. She was wrapped in the cloak again, she felt it protecting her, empowering her, and she realised it had always been there, only now could she feel the weight and name the fabric: The Force.


	4. Blue Eyes, Crimson Blade

Part IV: Crimson and Blue  
Resistance Base  
Maz continued uninterrupted after Starkiller, “Though while Darth Vader’s power lay with the dark side, and the Sith, Rey’s does not. Galen and I have also picked up small pieces of her vision when she touched that,” she said pointing to the lightsaber on Finn’s belt.   
At her pointing, the lightsaber disconnected from his belt, and his gasp and wide eyes were not alone as the lightsaber drifted over to hover in the centre of the group around the table they were all gathered around. Juno smacked Galen playfully on the shoulder, breaking some of the tension, as he muttered something about how metal hands actually hurt. He took a lightsaber off of his belt and it floated to join first blade. He raised both blades to the desired height and with a twitch, ignited them both.   
The room was bathed in a deep crimson and dusky blue as the blades floated in place, circling each other. The hilts looked quite similar, as everyone present noted. The only difference was that parts of the crimson’s hilt were plated in matte black metal, revealing the blade’s ability to shift in length; the same person clearly had crafted them. Maz looked at Starkiller for the first time with confusion. Galen replied to her look pointedly, “We captured him on Kamino… I took his lightsaber and when he escaped he must’ve made a new one.” Maz nodded briefly before looking at Leia.   
“These are your father’s blades.” Leia reached up and suddenly retracted her hand.   
“These aren’t for me.” the General muttered, flicking her hand, she shut them both off, causing a whooshing vacuum sound as the multicolour light vanished. Galen recalled his blade, as he sent the blue one back to Finn, who reached out and clipped it back on his belt after a glance at Han, who nodded. “So, Galen, why do you think Rey is a student of Luke’s?”  
Juno answered instead,” Because she obviously was powerful enough for him to sense. There’s no way he wouldn’t have found her 15, maybe twenty years ago. Galen picked up on her immediately, and while we haven’t actually met Luke, knowing he bested Vader in combat regardless of what larger emotional conflict was happening, he would be a powerful enough Jedi to sense Rey if he spent some time actively looking for apprentices like we know he did.”  
Galen jumped on where she left off, “One of the flashes I got from her vision was a memory of Kylo Ren impaling someone and then stalking towards her; and that bit was followed by a ship leaving her stranded on Jakku. Now, I don’t have anything close to the full picture, but it’s a thought to keep in mind. After all, what are the odds that the droid carrying the key to Luke’s location ended up in her hands on a large outer rim planet with minimal population?”  
“That’s not to mention,” Poe replied, “that Lor San Tekka was living less than a three day’s journey from where she was found. And our intelligence is pretty clear that Lor had the last piece for a long while, but for some reason chose not to alert us until recently.” At his words, Leia and a few others shifted uncomfortably. Jess actually rubbed her eyebrows as if trying to clear her head.   
Galen and Maz once again stood alert and at attention eyes looking skyward, they alone sensing a development rippling out through the Force.   
Starkiller looked at Maz with a smile spreading across his face. Leia felt the ripple, not a strongly as the other two, but she felt it and gazed at the table for a moment before deciding to organize a strike on the Starkiller Base.   
After Leia’s briefing which concluded with Chewbacca hollering with purpose and everyone dispersing to their ships, Galen and Juno stayed in the background talking quietly among themselves. “Do you think we need her?” Galen wondered aloud. Juno looked at him like he was an idiot briefly, but reconsidering his position, she replied with her argument.  
“We don’t know how things will go, and even if Rey is fine, which you can’t stop assuring everyone she is, Kylo Ren is no novice. There will be some sort of confrontation. There always is. And you may be the most powerful force user I’ve met, but even you admit your powers lack a certain accuracy and finesse that may be needed in the highly likely event of a lightsaber duel between Kylo and Finn.” Juno and Galen at this point walked over to General Leia and her attending Admirals Statura and Ackbar. Galen offered no argument to Juno, she, knowing she won their little talk started, “General, Galen and I will join the fight, but we need to seek someone out first. She’s someone who’s skills in certain areas of the force overshadow even Galen and Maz. A healer.” General Leia took this in without batting an eye.   
“Very well. Who is this healer you speak of? “ General Leia replied with a raised eyebrow. Noting Juno’s hesitation, she looked at Starkiller, who bore a similar look.   
“She might not be welcomed here by some. By you.” Galen specified, “From what she and her wife have told us of their times with the old Jedi Order, she’s probably responsible for a major shift that sent Anakin Skywalker deeper on the path to becoming Darth Vader.” He looked a little apprehensive as he mentioned this last detail.   
To his relief, Leia just shrugged, “I’ve gotten over my issues with my father decades ago, that kind of past grudge seems nonsensical to me now when the lives of my men and women my be on the line. I really don’t care what she’s done as long as she’s willing to help us now.“ Both Galen and Captain Eclipse visibly relaxed, not sure how Leia would take this. The General nodded and her two younger allies started towards the door when she called out, “And you’re confident in her abilities?”   
Galen and Juno both turned back to her and nodded, “She’s the one who found us and removed us from the Carbonite. Without her, we would’ve been dead. No one is meant to be in that stuff for longer than a few years or so…” Juno picked up where Galen left off, her eyes flitted towards the floor as if remembering sombre things, “We were frozen from the year before the battle of Yavin IV until 5 years ago. And only thanks to her skill in Force healing were the both of us able to make a full recovery.” General Leia nodded, waving them off with her hand as her young assistant, a girl with symmetric hair buns above each ear motioned toward something on the holo-screen.   
“Finn!” The young man turned back just as he had finished packing the crates being taken on the Millennium Falcon’s infiltration mission. Galen jogged up to him. Sizing him up for a moment, Galen said,” look, I know why you insisted on going to Starkiller base. I know you don’t have a plan…” Finn’s eyes widened almost hilariously as Galen patted him on the arm and continued, “First thing, just get in and cause as much havoc as you can. If Solo and Chewbacca’s reputation is anything to Judge by, they are masters at that sort of thing. And second…” Galen paused for a moment before continuing; “I think you’ll have better luck with Poe. It’s just a feeling I got off of her in the cantina, I don’t think us guys are her type” Galen winked at a stunned Finn before Force dashing to catch up with his girlfriend. Galen didn’t tell Finn though of how specific those feelings he leeched off of Rey were; especially as they pertained to one of the female patrons in the cantina who left her partner to use a communicator.   
“So, I wasn’t overstepping was I?” Juno wondered allowed as they broke atmosphere.   
Galen looked at his partner and scoffed, “Of course not! I’m just annoyed I didn’t think to bring her in myself. We should probably contact her first though, you know how she hates surprise drop ins-“ he shut up abruptly as Juno’s metal left arm sent him off his feet and into the opposite wall.   
Juno’s eyes were hard, though betrayed a twinkle that didn’t bode too badly for Galen, who was on the floor with his hands raised in mock submission. “I’m very aware,” she said as she looked at her artificial limb and flexed it’s mechanics slowly. She walked over to the command console aboard the Rogue Shadow where Proxy sat in the co-pilot’s seat. “Take us to Illum.”   
“Of course, Mistress!” the droid replied eagerly as he pushed the necessary buttons.   
Captain Eclipse walked out of the cockpit and kissed Galen on the cheek as he rose from his position on the floor. The both of them returned to the main cabin, formerly his alone, to place the call.   
At first, nothing showed up, but then they saw the tell-tale tendrils of their friend, and in Juno’s case, part time mentor. “Master Ahsoka! It’s nice to see you.” Juno started, with her usual pleasant lilt.   
“Oh Captain, you know I prefer just Ahsoka,” replied the hologram as she came into focus. She was a Tagruda, though since she aged considerably slower than humans at that stage in her life, she still resembled a female only beginning to approach middle age. “What can I do for you two crazy kids?”  
Galen picked up from there by getting right to the point, ”The awakening, you’ve both felt it right?” Ahsoka’s smile retracted a little as she nodded, “We are going to potentially be in need of a healer very soon, we are en route as we speak.” Understanding, Ahsoka held up a finger as she called over her shoulder to her partner.  
Ahsoka turned back to them, serious this time, “She better come back unharmed Marek, Eclipse. I’m assuming you just want her?”  
Galen nodded, “Too many Jedi in one place would potentially alert the new threat, Snoke, to your presence.” Ahsoka nodded again and sighed.   
“Well, bring her back to me in one piece or I will re-consider our friendship,” Ahsoka turned over her head and smiled. Turning back to Juno and Galen she said, “May the Force be with you,” and she walked out of frame. Galen and Juno heard a short exchange of words and something that could only be a kiss, as Ahsoka’s wife took her place, sitting down in a meditation position and looking from Starkiller to Juno slowly. She looked about the same age as Ahsoka and Juno, though she was slightly older than the former and considerably older than the latter.   
“So, I heard you need me.” glancing at Juno’s metal arm, as her eyes narrowed in regret. “I’d be glad to help.” Her dusky blue eyes connected with Juno’s as the Rogue Shadow made it’s descending journey to surface of the Force-rich ice planet Illum.   
To the new woman’s surprise, Juno Eclipse genuinely smiled at her, “It’s been a little while, Bariss, how’d you feel about saving some lives?” Bariss Offee smiled gratefully in return and nodded as Ahsoka’s hand wandered gently into frame and clasped hers tightly.


	5. The Grey Side

Part V: The Grey Side  
Ahsoka looked at Bariss once communication with the Rogue Shadow had been ended. “So, ready to go prevent some catastrophes?” Ahsoka said with her typically optimistic disposition. Bariss sighed, looking at her partner with a deep sadness in her eyes.   
“Catastrophe has already happened… again. Just like with Alderaan, there was no warning, just death.” Ahsoka’s upbeat demeanour shifted a little bit, squeezing Bariss’ hand a little tighter. The both felt the horror of the Starkiller base and it’s extinguishment of the Hosnian System. Bariss looked up into Ahsoka’s face and said, “We must do our part now. We’ve spent too long on the sidelines, letting others take care of trying to balance the Force. Not even Master Obi-Wan’s plan worked out exactly as we’d hoped it would. A darkness has awoken ounce again, as sure in its righteousness as your old Master.”   
Ahsoka’s eyes nearly welled up in tears as she realised her oldest friend was right, and also because she still was a little sad about the fall from grace of her master all those decades ago. Bariss kissed Ahsoka lightly on the lips and then they hugged. “I’m coming too.” Ahsoka said, picking up their lightsabers from the chest in which they had laid for weeks undisturbed; four blades, two each. Bariss opened her mouth, but Ahsoka gently interjected, “I’ll take the Ghost, I’ll join whatever assault General Organa has planned from space while you, Juno, and Galen sort things out on the ground. I was always a better pilot than you anyway.” She said before bringing Bariss in for another kiss, this one a little bit longer than the last, when they parted; briefly, Ahsoka whispered into Bariss’ ear, “what can we do against such reckless hate?” Bariss pulled back to look into Ahsoka’s eyes and then kissed her on the forehead. “Love each other. Not love everyone, that’s not feasible. But love is the ultimate redeemer, I would know.” Bariss had that darkness behind her eyes, even still; the same darkness that drove her to murder during the Clone Wars. However, she had long since forsaken the Dark, but also the Light, knowing she could never fully return to how things were before her dip into darkness within her soul. Ahsoka nodded and stepped back a couple paces, in unison, they said, “The Force is with you, so use it.” Ahsoka then turned with a grin on her lips and raced off to the other end of the cave that had the cavern where the old freighter turned nubile gunship was stowed. Ahsoka wasn’t a Dark Side Light side Hybrid user like Bariss and Galen, but she was known to use force lightning if her beloved’s life was on the line. There was only one incident in the Galactic Empire’s archive, but that one incident became a horror story Imperial officers whispered about when Darth Vader was in another quadrant, the further away the better.   
Bariss looked down at her lightsabers in her hands. Both of them were made here, neither had taken a life, though the one in her right hand had taken an arm, on accident. When Ahsoka broke Bariss out of bondage once she found out what the Emperor had planned for her oldest friend and greatest enemy of her heart. Their relationship was terse, at best for a long while. Eventually, after introducing Bariss to her friends in the Rebel Alliance, Bariss began to forgive herself, little by little. It took her years to realize that Ahsoka had fallen in love with her long ago, and that was the cause of her marked anguish when Bariss committed treason against the old Jedi Order. Once the Rebellion was a firmly powerful force against the Galactic Empire, Ahsoka and Bariss decided to come live on Illum, the one place the Empire feared to venture. The visions at first were jarring, especially for Ahsoka who dreamt of Darth Vader and the evil he had done, but through it all, Bariss had been there for her. Intimacy and romance came much later, at least for Bariss, but their friendship was ultimately unshakable.   
Bariss reflected on these things as she neared the light at the edge of the caves, remembering how she and her master had once held up a cave in with the force for hours in meditation. She grimaced, wondering if her master Luminara would think she was a monster now, even after all the good she had done in an effort to right all the wrongs. Probably. Luminara was always a very ridged teacher. Though kind, did not suffer breaks from the Jedi Code lightly.   
It was lightly snowing on the tundra outside. Bariss held out her hand and stopped seven flakes that were fluttering about her hands. They stayed there, very much in Bariss’ force grasp, revolving mesmerizingly.   
At the arrival of the descending Rogue Shadow, she released her little snowflakes and watched them join their sisters on the frozen ground. As the Shadow touched down, Bariss’ winter cloak fluttered behind her, her helmet clinking against her lightsabers on her hip. cave. She needed to make amends to the pilot. It was misunderstanding combined with a lifetime of unfortunately honed combative reflexes. Bariss knew deep down that Captain Eclipse had already forgiven her, in a way that almost painted that incident in a darker light. After Ahsoka fashioned a powerful and durable prosthetic, Galen’s temper seemed to vanish as he turned his energy to poking fun at his love instead.   
The ramp lowered and there the captain stood. Using her gleaming left arm to lean against the inside of the airlock with a warm smile on her face. She walked down to Bariss and gave her a hug, which Bariss returned hesitantly. “Captain, I'm-“  
Juno pulled back sharply and playfully punched Bariss in the upper arm, “C’mon. You can’t be morose forever Bariss. I’m over it, and you should be too. Besides, Galen tells me we have a young woman whose powers are comparable to his… well, he didn’t say that explicitly but it’s what he meant. And she’s currently a prisoner on the planet-killer base. “ Bariss nodded. She briefly looked back into the cave and closed her eyes, reaching out with the Force; immediately, the cave mouth shifted as a giant slab of stone slid down from the cave ceiling. Juno nodded appreciatively and walked up the rest of the ramp, leading Bariss into the main area of the ship.


	6. The Wings of Masters

Part VI: The Wings of Masters  
The Resistance Base  
Jess, Poe and Snap were busy reading their steeds for battle. Three among maybe 40 total pilots preparing to go on what most of them were beginning to think was a suicide mission.   
“So, you and the storm trooper eh?” Jess winked suggestively at Poe. Poe gave her a shrewd look, and continued with his preparations. “And here we thought you didn’t have a heart” Jess continued, as she herself began making the finishing touches on her x-wing prior to going into combat. “All right KT, hop on up,” she addressed her hot pink astromech droid everyone called ‘Katie’ due to the conveniently human-like sounding name. The droid rolled over to Jess’ ship and hopped on up to the suction placement mechanism. Moments later, KT was properly secured into Jess’ X-wing fighter ship.   
“I like him, I’ll give you that; that guy’s one hell of a gunner with a full heart. ” Poe responded belatedly to Jess, who spun around to acknowledge Poe’s confession.   
“Dawwww,” Jess drawled before Poe half-heartedly chucked a small wrench at her from across his own X-wing. Snap just chuckled. Though Poe was the superior pilot, his relationship with Snap and Jess was very much as an equal. He and Snap trained under the living legend Wedge Antilles, albeit a few years apart since Snap was the older of the two. Jess came along later, after the boys had long finished training. She was a little too much for Wedge to handle in his old age so he asked his best students to come in and lend a wing, and they all clicked almost instantly. Well, except for her accidentally painting the wrong X-wing, resulting in Poe flying around in a pink and black ship for a couple years. He got over it, and eventually adopted the paint job, and forming Black Squadron, the trio of death for any who flew in the face of the Resistance.   
Snap just looked on as his two younger friends casually lobbed heavy machinery at each other, lovingly threw machinery at each other.   
“What do you think of the new guys? That Eclipse lady her Jedi-killer friend?” Snap asked the two younger pilots once they had exhausted their supply of ammunition.  
Poe’s smile faded a bit, but he straightened up and was going to reply when Jess spoke instead, “I think he can help us.” She was serious now, no trace merriment in her eyes, “At least he was honest, but I think we can trust him as far as this mission is concerned, and every mission after that is very much up to the context in which we’ll be working with him. If we survive this shit-show bombing run in the first place.” Once she said her piece, she made a rude gesture, endearingly ,to her boyzz and put her helmet with her left hand and climbed into her cockpit preparing to take off.   
Snap looked at Poe who shrugged and said, “look, Finn was a storm trooper who decided to save my life. The General’s father killed the Emperor after years of committing atrocities against everyone. If we started denying our aid to them and theirs to us, we’d have been nowhere a long time ago, and I’d probably have grown up like Juno Eclipse did, as an Imperial.” Having said his part as well, he strode around his black X-wing and entered his cockpit as well.   
Snap was silently proud of his friends, if he didn’t feel totally comfortable.   
Aboard the Ghost  
“I swear Chopper, you’re worse than Proxy.” The Ghost’s resident astromech droid spun around cackling as Ahsoka was viewing old footage of how Chopper treated his old crew back during the Rebellion. This particular holo-recording depicted Chopper adding extra ‘special’ seasoning to one of Ezra Bridger’s meals to Zeb’s glee. Ezra, the poor padawan ended up being violently sick into his favourite helmet not moments later. Ahsoka grimaced, as Chopper of the present crowed in victory. “Small wonder Captain Hera and Sabine pawned you off on me when they settled down to start that cantina of theirs,” Ahsoka paused for a think then continued, “ didn’t they kick you out of their cantina for inciting violence with respected patrons?” Chopper’s chirp of glee was answer enough. Ahsoka just rolled her eyes muttering, “R2 had quirks and a bit of a vulgar disposition, but at least he never tried its upmost to inflict himself upon his friends.” Chopper responded with some more chirps and whirls which Ahsoka chose to ignore and focus on the deadly mission at hand.   
“Chopper! Set up a communication with the Resistance Base. We need to let them know they’ll have an extra gun on their side.” Chopper leapt to task, opening communication immediately as Ahsoka Tano prepped to exit hyperspace.   
“Hello, this is Fulcrum requesting General Organa or Admirals Statura or Ackbar if the General can’t be reached. I repeat: this is Fulcrum requesting General Organa or Admirals Statura or Ackbar if the General can’t be reached.” The comms were quiet for a few moments until an elderly authoritative voice responded, “Fulcrum, this is General Organa receiving you. I’m assuming you were sent her by Galen and Captain Eclipse?” Leia finished.  
“No, I elected to come help since my wife will be with Galen and Captain Eclipse on the ground. Put me to work, General,” Ahsoka voice denoted her incredible confidence as she waited for the General’s reply.   
“I’m going to have you cover Black Squadron which is lead by Poe Dameron. Your designation will be Ghost. I look forward to having conversation with you after you see my fighters home.” General Organa was calm and steady with her orders as she signed off.   
“Well, let’s run a weapons check and make sure everything’s in order before we rendezvous with Black Squadron. “ Ahsoka left the preparations to Chopper as she moved to her cabin for a spot of rest before the battle.   
As the door to her cabin closed, she detached the lightsabers from her hips and held them in the air with the Force, as they silently spun in place. She started an exercise that Galen had supplied her and Bariss as a simple way of both connecting with the Force, and honing personal knowledge of the lightsabers they carried. Simultaneously, they both began to disassemble until all the parts were laid bare in the air. Ahsoka opened her eyes. The glowing crystals in front of her cast her silhouette on the satin blue wall behind her. She and Bariss had long decided to use each other’s lightsabers as a sign of their commitment to each other, and this was reflected in the rich dark red and pale light ebbing from the crystals. The red wasn’t the lighter shade of a normal dark side user’s crystal, but an incredibly rare one found on Illum, in some of its deepest caves. Fate would have it that Bariss found twin dark red crystals peaking out from the darkness.   
Taking deep breaths, Ahsoka mix and matched pieces of her lightsabers with each other, making them hybrids of one another. Once the crystals were both integrated into the hilts and they were complete, she reattached them to her belt and ventured back towards the helm. Just as she walked in, a voice flashed onto her comms, “Hey, I’m Poe Dameron and I’m Black Leader. General Organa tells me that you have prodigious flying skills and that you’ll be helping take out the trash today.” The voice seemed a tad bit chipper to Ahsoka, but she replied with, “I’m Fulcrum, designation Ghost, and I will indeed be helping you with your raid on Starkiller Base today.” Ahsoka paused before continuing, “ I’m going to cover your squadron and try and keep as many of you alive as I can… may the Force be with you all, Black Squadron.” Ahsoka ended, but kept the comms open so that she could hear the various jokes and insults thrown around. It reminded her of the good old days.   
Starkiller Base  
What had she done? She read his mind! How was that even possible? Then the simple truth saddled itself in her metaphorical lap: she had scared him off with her powers. Rey contemplated her newly discovered abilities as she periodically tested her restraints with no luck on that front. Behind her, a sudden burst of static alerted her to the fact that Kylo Ren had left a single storm trooper in place to guard her. Okay, so how to do this, she thought as she contemplated her options. She went with the wild one: mind control, because honestly nothing was too wild to try if she wanted out of this horrible blood stained chair. First try was a failure; she did manage to het his attention though. Second try got a reaction form him, and not a kind one. Rey looked into the hollow black space where she could only imagine there was a pair of masculine eyes looking right back into hers. She took a deep breath, and before she entreated his ‘aid’ a third time, called on that long forgotten limb that allowed her passage into the realm of Kylo Ren’s deepest fear. Exhaling, she realised something so simple she almost laughed, her lips curving into a small grin: she can do this. Feeling a shiver of power extend from her like a set of invisible intricately crafted wings, Rey softly commanded, “You will unlock my restraints and leave this cell. With the door open...….And you will drop your weapon!”


	7. Part VII: Fluttering Between Light and Dark

Part VII: Fluttering Between Dark and Light   
Aboard the Rogue Shadow, things were far less tense than Bariss was assuming they’d be. She briefly sensed Galen’s anger, but that was just a reaction to being in the same room as the one who maimed his beloved. He was at the helm, while Bariss and Juno were in the main cabin area. Bariss wondered if she’d be as genial if it was Ahsoka that was maimed. It would take time, she decided. Juno had taken off her flight jacket for the time being, it was a long flight after all, to the Starkiller Base. Bariss had to admit, Captain Eclipse was quite beautiful. She was quite tall for a human woman too, taller than either Bariss or Ahsoka, both of whom though incredibly lethal were relatively short. Juno however, was only a smidge shorter than Galen, who was also tall for a human male. Juno’s metal arm started at the shoulder. Since it would’ve been too much work to simply replace half a shoulder, there was some surgery done to make Juno’s entire left shoulder and arm mechanic, which was the Eclipse’s choice, and it provided for far stronger manoeuvres in basically every scenario than a metal arm attached at the elbow or even upper arm could pull off.  
Bariss smiled though, knowing that to her, Ahsoka would always be the epitome of beauty and grace, and Ahsoka’s brick red skin was certainly complementary to her own muted green. Bariss came back to reality when Juno Eclipse took out her lightsaber hilt. “I missed my last few training sessions since this whole business with Rey started.” Juno said when she noticed her hilt drew Bariss’ wary eye. “Did you and Ahsoka feel it? The Awakening,” she emphasised, half mockingly, “Galen said that he had never felt anything like her in his lifetime. I mean, I’m sure this Luke Skywalker felt something after all he is reputed as the last Jedi. But while you and Ahsoka aren’t Jedi anymore, you’re the most powerful two people we’ve known at this point comparable to the Emperor and Darth Vader.” Bariss’ deep blue eyes flickered at the mention of such old foes, but the compliment was not lost on her.  
Bariss paused before answering the young captain. “Yes, we did feel this girl. Her presence felt like pulse in the middle of a lake. I think that this girl has probably always thought of herself as a drop of water in the scheme of things. Absolutely insignificant. The disturbance in the Force that Ahsoka and I felt was strong, but it wasn’t purely a Jedi feeling like I’m sure that old Maz would’ve wanted. It was mixed. Heavily leaning towards the Light Side certainly, but not yet… deceived by its promises of peace.” Bariss concluded with a flicker of malice.   
“But if she’s not purely Light Side, do you think she’ll eventually fall and become like Kylo Ren or Darth Vader?” Juno queried.  
Bariss responded at length, “Not necessarily. Most Jedi are only stupid, not destined to dance in the Dark. Though firstly, I do not hate all the Jedi, at least not anymore. Though it took me over a decade to forgive the council… You know of course of what I did at the end of the Clone Wars…” she hesitated and decided to not go into that chapter of her life with the younger woman in front of her; at least not now.   
She resumed, “I’m still the same person who did those horrible things and broke Ahsoka’s heart to boot, but I have grown wiser I think, since the days of my youth. “The Sith and the Jedi both believe theirs is the only viable way. Neither creed has ever been willing to compromise their rigid visions. And because of that, darkness will always grow out of the purest light and visa versa. There was once, thousands of years ago a Force user named Revan who grasped this better than most. He posited a new and seemingly obvious philosophy: ‘The Force existed long before the Sith and the Jedi divided it into Dark and Light.’ But I digress, both creeds seek balance, but their ideals of passion and total emotional sterility respectively, make functional balance with the Force impossible. Only by acknowledging there are things to learn and shirk from both sides can a force user come close to balance with the Force, and that’s what your Galen has been exploring on his journey from the Dark side; and it’s what Ahsoka and I have endeavoured to master. Straddling that area between Light and Dark, never being needlessly cruel, but when we need to be, that we always show restraint. I don’t know if that answers your questions or simply gives you new ones, but that’s how I feel about the Force after all these years. And it is my hope that this young Rey learns to accept the force as Revan envisioned it, but not fall into darkness and ignorance” Bariss finished, having talked for several minutes at once now.  
Juno sat there for a while before speaking, “Ok. So how powerful was this Revan?” She caught Bariss looking at her metal arm ruefully before Bariss answered her.   
“The records that were preserved on Coruscant’s Jedi Temple indicate that he was unlike anything who came before or after him. The distilled philosophy of Revan’s, which I just told you, took years of him wading through rivers of blood of both Dark Side and Light side users alike; not to mention all the normal beings who were caught in his path. Thus, Ahsoka and I keep each other in check, both of us having been touched by the Light and the Dark.”   
“Do the both of you hope that you’ll be the ones to train Rey then? Teach her the ways of both the Dark and the Light? She can’t be super powerful right now can she, if she’s just discovering herself?” Juno asked.  
“I sense that it won’t be us to instruct her studies in the Force, at least not primarily. Though relatively weak now, she will soon come to realize she has the strength of a roaring river and the serenity of…” She paused, thinking of a metaphor, and then it came to her, “Fluttering snowflakes–“ with that, Bariss’ mind suddenly jolted far ahead to the Starkiller Base.   
There was the cold, all around her as the snow fell. She saw her friend not moving as he lay face down in the snow with a sickening, smouldering, slash from hip to shoulder. She suddenly felt fear unlike anything she had ever known save for when she was watching a small landing ship depart so long ago, leaving her all alone for the first time in her life. But along with that fear she felt her muscles grow stronger her stride quicker, but overwhelming grief, she was holding it in her left hand, and it’s colour was an unstable cross guarded scarlet; in her other hand, righteous blue as she staked towards the wounded architect of all her misery backed up against a steaming lightsaber hewn tree.   
“Galen!” Juno lunged forward to catch Bariss as she pitched forward from where she sat, catching her head just before it hit the floor. Juno’s lightsaber went flying from her hand as she caught her falling friend. Starkiller appeared in the main cabin area before the syllable was out of Juno’s mouth, having felt a disturbance in the Force. He quickly knelt to check Bariss’ pulse and to his relief her heartbeat was almost unnaturally strong. “Here,” Juno said as she almost gently lifted Bariss bodily into her bunk, silently relishing the strength of her synthetic arm, which was carrying most of the Mirialan’s weight. Having Bariss safely checked away in her old bunk, she turned to Galen with her hands flapping about in a gesture of total confusion.   
“What was she saying when she passed out?” Galen asked.   
“Well first she was talking about this guy named Revan and the pursuit of balance between the Dark and Light sides of the Force, then she was talking to me about this girl, Rey, and she was actually getting quite poetic, maybe a little bit too much so, but then she said that Rey would be growing into her power, likening her to fluttering snowflakes or something.” Galen broke out into a grin initially, but then realised what must’ve happened.   
“She had a Force Vision. This Starkiller Base,” he practically spat, “what’s its genome? Proxy!” he called.   
Proxy wandered into the main cabin nonchalantly as he replied, “It’s a cold planet, not as bad as Hoth, but it’s covered in snow with large swaths of forest…” he tapered off as Starkiller nodded, seeming to have gotten what he needed from Proxy at the moment.   
“What does this mean?” Juno asked hesitantly, looking at the peacefully unconscious Bariss, worry reflected in her eyes.   
Galen’s head tilted as he noted this, but replied, “It must’ve been the image in her head of snow that set this in motion. But I’ve got a bad feeling about this whole thing. There’s something big we don’t know about yet that I think will shake it all up.”   
The sat looking at Bariss for a long while before he started back towards the helm, but turned back hesitantly, addressing the elephant in the room: “How can you forgive Bariss Offee so quickly for cutting off your left arm? It’s only been 7 months.”   
Juno raised her eyebrows as she stepped away from Bariss slowly looking at Galen intently. “Because I too have crippled someone I cared about.” Galen didn’t audibly gasp, but he stepped closer to Juno, touching her right arm in a reassuring gesture.  
“I didn’t know. Who was it?” He asked quietly.   
“Oh, I got cocky once in the Imperial Flight Academy, and I caused my best friend to lose both her legs. I tried to pull off a manoeuvre that I hadn’t properly practiced in the simulator, and when it was our turn to demonstrate, I crashed us. Her legs weren’t severed cleanly like a lightsaber blade. Her legs were crushed beneath twisted and burning metal. She didn’t have a wealthy benefactor or a smart mechanic to help her out. We didn’t come from privilege. It was in the pursuit of privilege that we joined the Academy. Anyway, since we were just kids, the Empire didn’t consider us solid investments yet since we hadn’t been there long enough for them to properly gauge our potential. And we just crashed anyways, so they didn’t give her new legs, they basically kicked her out to the curb and let her rot. She killed herself a few years later, airlock; the day before my graduation. Her name was Gaia.“ She trembled at that last bit, but when she glanced slightly up into Galen’s eyes, hers were clear.   
“So I can understand that a woman like Bariss, who has probably struggled with her place in the Force longer than we’ll ever know, and as well trained as she may be, can slip up once in a while and not show restraint when some idiot learner tries a ill-conceived sneak attack. It wasn’t her fault, and even if it was, I don't think holding grudges with one of the few people in the galaxy who we know can out-duel you is an idea that’s good for anybody. She trusts me, and that would be enough to forgive her even if there were nothing else in her favour.” She finished as she went to pick up her lightsaber hilt.   
She gazed at it on the floor for a moment before taking it into her left hand and carrying it back to her and Galen’s cabin, while Galen retreated to the helm with Proxy. Once inside her room, Juno breathed out in a whoosh, tears forming in her eyes, she hadn’t been that emotionally vulnerable since she glimpsed Galen pounding on the glass barrier between them as she was being lead away by Boba Fett.  
Wiping away the few tears that dared smear her cheeks, she took her lightsaber and placed it on the shelf before walking back into her old cabin to watch Bariss’ peaceful breathing and ponder their discussion.


	8. Part VIII: Waiting in Their Wings

Part VIII: Waiting in Their Wings

Aboard the Rogue Shadow, Around the Time the Shields on Starkiller Base Dropped

The Rogue Shadow came out of hyperspace near enough to the planet to see the exhaust steam from the previous day's firing still leaking from the mouth of the weapon like drool from a great beast. Meanwhile on the planet's surface Finn, Chewbacca, and Han Solo had made their mathematically impossible landing and had infiltrated the complex, at least according to the chatter from the X-wings flying in for their bombing run. Juno and Galen were armoured up, Juno wore the complete set this time, reinforced helmet as well, rated to withstand glances from lightsabers, or, at least had survived ricochet blaster bolts. It had the scorches to prove it. Galen and Juno both felt a disturbance coming from behind them. Galen looked at Juno quickly, he thought without her noticing. Unexpectedly he felt a well of pride for how well she had been embracing the ways of the Force, even if she wasn't too powerful yet… the fact that they both sensed something at the same time though was proof to him at least that he had perhaps been underestimating her of late.

When Barriss came to, Juno and Galen had already donned their armour and were sitting in the main cabin with Proxy in the co-pilot's seat, keeping them on course towards Starkiller Base. She tried to remember what had landed her in this bed; she had briefly seen herself inhabiting the point of view of a girl named Rey. She stalked toward the slack-jaw and defeated figure in black, with his remaining limbs trying to escape her as she stalked towards him with two lightsabers in hand.

Barriss took a few deep breaths and steadied herself on her feet. Slowly, she ventured into the main room where the rest of her comrades were. "Barriss! Are you ok? What happened?" Juno queried immediately.

"I had a rather powerful Force vision of a young woman, who was poised to enact a terrible choice," Barriss replied slowly, playing through in her head again. "I suppose this is the source of the awakening. Rey is a powerful one," she nodded at Starkiller as he also nodded in return. "I sense things will unfold naturally and in their own time," she added, echoing similar sagely words her master Luminara had once said to her.

"Well, our tactical plan is to wait for the Millennium Falcon crew to lower the shields so we can basically come in and rescue whoever needs it," Galen said casually, "The Force is one thing, but the shenanigans that smuggler captain is capable of frankly baffles me," he admitted, wondering how the shields would end up coming down.

As it turned out, they didn't have to wait long until a voice rang out on their comms unit, "All forces attack!"

Juno put the ship on the other side of the planet from where the rest of the Resistance was mounting their assault so as to not draw unwanted attention from the First Order. Skipping across the higher atmosphere, Juno directed the stealth vehicle to where Galen and Barriss felt the most Force ripples coming from.

Inside the Base, Just After the Shields Have Dropped

After Captain Phasma had been deposited in the trash compacter, Han Solo and his compatriots were feeling quite confident, especially the former FN-2187 as he had just sent his oppressor to hell, maybe not literally, but that brief feeling of victory was soon diminished. They happened across a hallway on which the ground coming out of a room on the right was riddled with scorch marks. As if sparks had just been dumped en masse onto the floor of the corridor. As they rounded the corner what hit them first was the heat. The entire room, with the sole discernable feature being what used to be a chair in the centre of it, was molten. Red orange metal dripped from the blazing gashes and lacerations in the reinforced metal plating the room. "Kylo Ren." Finn stated blankly, he didn't see Han's look of consternation from behind, but he took a moment to marvel at the destruction. Having been memorably tortured in a quite similar room by another creature in mask so very long ago, Han Solo instantly recognized this as the room that most likely housed Rey. Though judging from the metal carnage, not for that long.

Looking around, Han surmised, "Well, judging by that there aren't any body parts lying around or blood painted on the walls or floor, I think the First Order might have an escaped prisoner at large. At the very least, the interrogation couldn't have gone well for Kylo Ren." The moniker sounded odd as said by him, but Chewy and Finn ignored that and nodded at their leader's conclusion. As they were trying to formulate a plan, Han noticed something curious, something that for reasons he couldn't place, reminded him of old Ben Kenobi; a slight figure climbing up the hangar wall, over the abyss. Finn took a little cajoling, but once he looked to where Han was motioning with his chin, he broke out into a relieved laugh as the three rogues went to go meet their friend. As quietly jogged, Han couldn't help but wonder how she had escaped his son. He knew right then that there was perhaps something about this girl that he severely underestimated, after all he thought, she singlehandedly piloted the Millennium Falcon with prodigious skill according to Finn. He'd never admit it to anyone other than Chewbacca, but Rey made him think of the few times he tried unsuccessfully to pilot the same ship, under far less complicated circumstances when he was already a practiced hand so many years ago.

Hyperspace, In The Minutes Before the Starkiller Base's Shields Went Down

The journey was taking longer than Ahsoka would have liked, but she admitted to herself it was probably the normal jitters she got before big missions. Ahsoka Tano knew she was a rained and unrivalled save for a few, if that. Even a master Force user as she was at this point in her life, she couldn't shake her natural response to high stakes; even though she proved time and again that she thrived in do or die situations. Her comms were only connected at the moment to Blue Squadron: Snap, Jess, Ello Asty, and Poe.

Naturally, Jess was the one who started the conversation. She had been speaking to her male comrades, but she had some questions for this mysterious newcomer whose pedigree was such that the General just allowed her to accompany them; as Ahsoka had put it, 'watch their backs'. "Sorry boys, Poe, is it alright if I open a private channel with our new friend?" she started. Ahsoka's ears perked up slightly at this, but she gave Poe the go-ahead that it was ok with her so long as he, the superior officer of Jess, was ok with it: he was.

"So, why did General Organa have you come along?" Jess asked, testing the waters.

"Because I told her I was interested in helping with this mission. She was wise to accept my help today, we've been friends for a little while now actually," Ahsoka replied, thinking briefly over the years of gentle instruction she and Barriss gave the Resistance Leader in the Force. "Jess is it?" Ahsoka ventured.

"Yes. Don't you think it's weird how everyone seems so fixated on this girl I've been hearing about? Poe said that Finn wouldn't shut up about her. To be fair, Poe hasn't been able to shut up about Ex-Stormtrooper Finn now that I think about it," her tone was a bit clipped, but there was a kernel of curiosity that Ahsoka felt the markedly young pilot couldn't shake.

"Well, if the First Order took her alive she's important. She's also not the focus of the mission. Captain Solo won't let anyone down; he'll disable the shields around the base. I think they'll manage to find her, she's a force user as well, so recovering her has definite value for your Resistance, Jess." Ahsoka reasoned.

"You're a Force user right?" Jess queried.

"Yes. And I can sense that there's something else you are wanting to ask, though you're afraid to." Ahsoka reached out to the young mind she was speaking with, feeling conflict… and expertly buried grief. She hadn't expected that, she took a few deep breaths and while not probing Jess' mind, she felt the vibrations in the Force it produced. "You're grieving… why?" Ahsoka added on tenderly.

Jess took three deep breaths, calming herself, before confessing, "There was an envoy to the senate. Organa sent her to the Republic on Hosnian Prime to get them to recognize the threat of the First Order; Korr Sella was her name. Seems silly right? Cause they're all dead now out of ignorance, stupidity, and greed; but not Korr. She was kind and usually like at worst the 3rd smartest person in the room, she used to make great jokes about the General's hair, and we used to confide in each other… I really fancied her." She stopped short, quickly wiping her tears away before they fell onto her cheeks, mortified she shared so much with this practical stranger. At least the communication line was just to the kind stranger in the Ghost and not to her comrades.

Ahsoka considered the young pilot's words, she reminded Ahsoka in some ways of herself when she realised during the Clone Wars that she loved Barriss. If this pilot was anything like her, which she knew to be true, Ahsoka was confident a full recovery from this emotional agony would be relatively slow, but sure; as long as this mission went well. No, it would go well, Ahsoka would ensure that Jess live through this battle. With this silent declaration, Ahsoka finally filled up what had become a pregnant silence, "You're a very strong woman. And I'm so sorry for you about your friend. But now isn't the time to let the hunger for revenge determining your actions. Right now, you need to focus; we're almost there. After our return, because I'll ensure that you do, I would like to invite you aboard the Ghost for as long as you'd like to talk to my wife or me about anything. I have a feeling your future won't be as bleak as you fear right now. Light will find a way."

Before Jess could respond to the blunt yet warming words of her new friend, they emerged from hyperspace and were beginning their bombing run. While Jess took a moment to regain her battle composure, Ahsoka opened up the communication line again to Blue and Red squadrons as they entered Starkiller Base's atmosphere and let loose their ordinance.


	9. In the Light of a Dying Star

Part IX: In Light of the Dying Star  
The snow of Starkiller Base began to frost the windows the Rogue Shadow as it made it’s final descent into the forest outside the oscillator that was discussed at the Resistance meeting on D’Qar. Juno expertly lay the craft down and the ramp hissed open, letting in a burst of frost. “Proxy, you have the con. Stay out of sight, and don’t die. We’ll need you to pick us up when we’re done here.” Juno said loudly over the hissing wind.   
“Also, don’t jeopardize their lives to get at me,” Galen quipped.  
“Of course not, Master. That would be in direct violation of the programing you added after the incident on Naboo.” Proxy replied with a vocal smirk.  
Juno rolled her eyes, as she disembarked; Naboo had been a bloody mess, literally. Barriss simply nodded at the droid as she followed Juno out into the night. Galen quickly ran back into the cabin to grab his Jedi-scavenger hybrid hood to cover his not so insulated armour (not dissimilar fashion choice than the garb Galen Marek wore during his final confrontation with DarthVader. This was not missed by Juno’s keen eyes.), smartly rethinking his approach to foul weather. Juno was comfortable in her perfectly insulated Mandalorian armour, courtesy of her cantina-owning friend Hera Syndulla who added a thermodynamic lining to adapt to temperatures very high or obscenely low. Barriss wore a combination of Clone and typical Mandalorian armour. Not to be outmatched by Juno however, since hers was partially acquired from the war chest of a Death Watch Lieutenant who survived the Clone Wars. The parts of her outfit that were Clone armour was taken from an old friend upon his departure from armed conflict, a clone commander called Cody. His helmet dyed in indigo and black was upon her head. Barriss’ armour was fit with plenty of armaments, some standard like whipcord and hidden blades, some nasty toys; though her indigo flowing coat, which was impressively billowing in the wind as she secured her helmet, hid most of these instruments of combat.   
“Nice coat there Barriss,” Juno nodded appreciatively. “Did you make it?” The pilot inquired.  
“No, I stole it from a bounty hunter with a ridiculous hat. I dyed it indigo though. Ahsoka didn’t think the brown coat matched my eyes.” Barriss’ eyes were hidden from Juno from behind her helmet, but she narrowed them as she remembered her final encounter with the Jedi killer and abductor of Force-sensitive children: Cad Bane. She shook her head slightly, dispersing the memory of Ahsoka bleeding on the deck and subsequent carnage Barriss herself inflicted on that red-eyed monster. Remarkably, his admittedly beautiful coat fell off during their climactic altercation, thus being spared from Barriss’ maelstrom and likely disintegration.   
It took the three of them longer than they would’ve liked to reach the oscillator hub; the disappearing sun bathed the land in hues of light grey, as the sun was nearly gone. The battle in the sky was already quite fierce. Briefly looking skyward, Barriss and Galen both located the powerful Force presence in the sky coming from the Ghost being piloted by Ahsoka Tano. The Ghost was clearly more than a match for the TIE fighter pilots, though Ahsoka often had to defend some of the X-wings, she circled around a close-knit squad of three as they completed another bombing run before the fight ended up in higher atmosphere; the TIE fighters were beginning to thin out the ranks of the other X-wings.   
“We need to hurry,” Galen said as he increased his pace after receiving a go-ahead nod from Juno, using the Force to bolster each step to cover metres at a time. While Barriss could’ve easily kept pace with him and perhaps exceed him, she stayed behind with Captain Eclipse.   
“How are Sabine and Hera doing?” Barriss ventured causally as the neared the hub. “Ahsoka and I haven’t been as good patrons as we probably should be; at least not in the last few years. There was a while there when we practically lived with them, but that was before Ezra’s death.” Barriss hissed inwardly, brining up dead friends was not a good way to hold conversation.   
Juno however brushed off the mention of their dead friend, “Pretty good, Hera actually modified my armour, making it perfectly comfortable in the cold. Sabine couldn’t help but add a few extra personal touches to my armour as well. They are both doing well I think, Galen and I spent a week with them before meeting up with Hondo in Mos Eisley.”   
Barriss thought for a moment, “Is Hondo still as much a nuisance as he was when Ahsoka and I knew him?” Hondo was infamously selfish, but had in his golden years developed what some might hesitantly call a conscience. According to the late Ezra Bridger, he may have even become kind following the great Jedi Purge. “Wow,” Barriss muttered almost to herself realising the last time she had encountered Hondo was now over two decades, pushing three.  
Juno shrugged as well as she could sprinting at higher speeds than any normal human, she too utilizing the Force to hasten her steps. At last they reached the entrance to the Hub. But Galen was standing at the foot of the ladder, speaking to two younger humans, one of whom Juno recognized as the young man who left the Resistance Base with Han Solo and Chewbacca, the other was a girl who was just shorter than she, but even Juno could tell this young woman was something else, but at the same time exceptionally ordinary looking, other than her obviously attractive features.   
Barriss looked at the girl with more kindness than curiosity, briefly interrupting Galen’s conversation with the young man, “I’m terribly sorry, but I don’t know your names. I’m Barriss Offee”  
“I’m Juno Eclipse” the pilot directed at Rey, who had not met either of them on account of being taken captive by Kylo Ren.   
The dark-skinned young man thrust his hand forward saying to Barriss, “I’m Finn! And this-” He was cut off by a swift but gentle backhand slap to his upper arm.   
“I can speak for myself,” the girl said pointedly, causing Finn to look embarrassed and Juno and Galen to eat their grins. Even Barriss’ lip curled into a grin inside her helmet, “I’m Rey. It’s nice to meet you three, but we need to be going, our friends need us.” She said not unkindly, but Barriss could sense great worry in coiling off of the youth like smoke. Barriss nodded as Rey jumped onto the ladder, taking the lead with zero hesitation. As the others followed her swiftly, Barriss stood there for a moment looking at the dying star being consumed for one purpose. Turning back to the ladder and ascending as quickly as she could, she couldn’t help but remember how much Rey in their very limited interaction reminded her of Ahsoka when they first met. Rey and Ahsoka had the exact same reaction to being spoken for by well-meaning but encroaching men; in Ahsoka’s case it was when her master offhandedly introduced her as ‘Snips’ and she immediately corrected him with a smack on his arm. Barriss chuckled to herself as she remembered Ahsoka also regretted that since the arm she chose to smack was in fact metal and harder than her hand.   
By the time all of them were gathered at the landing atop the ladder, they were all peering at a dark figure radiating dark side Force cloud pacing across a bridge extending from one end of the cavernous space to the other. Barriss felt Rey’s worry intensify, and while she glanced back at the girl, she also began to have a bad feeling.   
The woman with the antique helmet and dark blue coat whispered to the other woman and the man who they encountered first. She turned to Rey who realised she was in fact shivering from the cold, having returned Finn’s leather flight jacket since he had also begun to shiver more fiercely than her. She quickly after a second’s hesitation took her coat off and put it on Rey, ignoring her mutters of “being perfectly fine”. Barriss, Rey totally remembered her name, leapt from where she stood with a velocity and grace that Rey had never seen before. She disappeared below them all into the light emanating from the bottom of whatever structure they were in.   
Anticipating Finn’s gasp of horror, Juno quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, muting her for a moment. Rey reached up and removed the hand from her friend and she recognized from its weight was artificial. Finn nodded at Juno, letting her know that he was ok now. After a silent chuckle, Galen made a similar leap towards the platform below though decidedly far less graceful, silently landing behind a few stormtroopers, breaking both their necks with horrifying ease as he dragged them behind a metal pillar and out of sight. Juno however turned back to look at her and Finn, and for the first time, Rey had properly looked at the beauty in front of her. Rey thought she was beautiful especially because she could appreciate the craftsmanship of the armour she wore.   
Feeling incredibly childish, she loved how Barriss’ coat seemed to fit her perfectly, and stopped in her quiet glee for a moment to absorb the fact that the woman in front of her, Juno Eclipse, had an ornate lightsaber hilt attached to her belt. Before she could say anything to the woman, movement happened in the corner of her eye which was right then looking at the creature in mask just passing the half-way point on the dark bridge. It was Han! Finn also noticed, tensing up beside her; Juno however was paying more attention to Chewbacca for some reason.  
Rey’s attention was focused purely on the only person who she felt truly accepted her as he sheathed his blaster on his hip, striding toward the creature in mask and let forth a wounded cry,  
“BEN!”


	10. In Free Fall

Part X: In Free Fall  
So the creature in mask had a name. Ben. Rey registered this new bit of information; even as terror built within at watching one of the three beings she cared about walk towards the man who had tried to violate her mind. Rey looked up at Juno, who was still looking nervously at Chewbacca, as if she was afraid the Wookie wouldn’t be able to help drawing attention to him. Rey looked around for Barriss, but she lost track of her after her Force-fuelled leap. Galen however was still moving about below them, she was sure, taking out as many stormtroopers as he could without being detected.  
A column of light shone down on Father and Son. From where Rey, Juno, and Finn stood, they only heard the first part of the conversation:  
“What do you think you’ll see?”  
“The face of my son.”  
Rey gasped as she and Finn locked eyes. Son? That monster was a Han’s son? Juno made a cautionary gesture with her left hand as the Han came to stand in front of his son. Neither Finn, Juno, nor Rey could hear the words spoken between them.  
Galen paused before advancing on the next set of stormtroopers, noticing a bomb on the underside of the pillars he had crouched by. He spared the two figures on the bridge a glance before checking his ship locator on his wrist. Smiling quietly he started moving to take out more stormtroopers.  
Barriss looked up from her perch, far below the bridge. Though, she figured it was no more than a few seconds of free fall. The light was fading fast as Barriss felt a ripple in the force, clarity: Ben Solo had made his choice, now it was just a short wait for the inevitable. She narrowed her eyes as the light from the sun faded altogether.  
The Battle in the Sky  
How had they allowed the First Order to push them further into the sky? Jessika iced two TIEs even as four more X-wings fell to ground aflame. Poe was shouting encouragement over the comms, though he’d never admit it, his voice was becoming desperate. Ahsoka Tano’s ship was bulkier than the X-wings and TIEs but with her skills, its bulk was far from hindering. The Ghost flashed by Jessika to shoot down a TIE seeking to take down Snap. “Nice shot Ahsoka!” Jessika yelled, ecstatic.  
Ahsoka’s voice suddenly broke across yelling, “Jessika! Behind you!”  
Jessika jerked to the left as her left wing went out in flames. “JESSIKA!” Poe screamed through the comms as Jessika’s world became clouded in smoke and began to spiral out of control to the ground below. In the chaos of the moment, Jessika was sure she spotted the Ghost diving after her as she suddenly was jerked upwards as her cockpit dropped away from her and she saw her droid KT similarly ejected. The droid flew upwards, past Jessika, as KT’s emergency protocol thrusters and parachute were just enough to beat the Starkiller Base’s gravity. The flames however mangled Jessica’s parachute and thus she still tumbled towards the blackness of the Oscillator hub that was rushing up at her.  
There was a bloom of fire underneath her, a smouldering gash appeared on the southern wall of the oscillator hub. Jessika had somewhat regained as much composure as she could in free fall, spread-eagled. She would’ve shrugged if could upon seeing her X-wing crash into the oscillator hub right where the breach was largest.  
Jessika heard the thundering sound of a ship being hit, but the engines of the Ghost quickly drowned that out. Ahsoka’s ship was keeping pace with her with the ramp open and Ahsoka reaching out to her. Jessika suddenly felt weightless and through all the chaos, saw Ahsoka gritting her teeth in determination as their hands grasped each other outstretched. 

Moments Earlier on The Bridge  
A scarlet hue accompanied by an angry mechanical snarl hissed to life.  
“NO!” Rey’s howl echoed Chewbacca’s wail. Everything was bathed in scarlet, and Rey saw Han Solo’s abdomen pieced by his son’s lightsaber.  
She was helpless as Han Solo’s broken form gracelessly tumbled off of the bridge and out of her sight.  
Kylo Ren suddenly was slammed to his knee as Chewbacca’s answer to the traitorous impalement of his friend struck him in the lower abdomen above his left leg. He looked at his favourite Uncle, Chewbacca. So it had come to this; he felt grief emanating from his old friend and mentor as he raised his lightsaber, watching Chewy go after his men and women in armour instead of staying to challenge him. Snarling, the tall dark figure got to his feet, belying the horrific wound he had just incurred. He looked to his left as the scavenger girl and the traitor FN-2187 slayed his stormtroopers along with another female he didn’t recognize. That didn’t bother him much, but he couldn’t help but shiver a little as his eyes met the scavenger’s, and he could feel her need to kill him overpower her rational thoughts; far more so than during her interrogation mere hours ago. He grinned tightly at her, feeling her hatred blaze accordingly.  
FN-2187 knew better, he ushered the girl out into the cold, but the other female stayed to make sure the rest of his troopers were dead. Kylo Ren smirked as he made his way to the end of the bridge from which he and his father had stepped on, but he stopped. A blue lightsaber was ignited at the mouth of the bridge. This was a surprise; Kylo Ren felt the raw power of this new player for the first time, as the stranger had clearly been hiding his Force presence before now.  
Kylo Ren raised his chaotic mess of a blade in front of him. But before either opponent could do anything to one another, explosions wracked the structure. Molten metal cascaded downwards, catching the Stranger with the blue blade off guard as he took a hit and went down. “Starkiller!” the female shouted from the balcony as she leapt down to aide her fallen friend. Chewbacca had disappeared, presumably to retreat to the Millennium Falcon.  
From above them, a shattered X-wing rained down on them as Kylo jumped to the balcony to avoid dying. He quickly followed his two younger adversaries as flames began to engulf the bridge behind him.  
“Juno, where’s Barriss?” Galen grunted as he got to his feet, blood rapidly soaking his right side. Juno stopped for a moment, taking in the fact her lover and best friend had no arm beneath the shoulder on his right side. “Juno, where’s Barriss?”  
Whipcord wrapped around the non-destroyed railing as a large shadow ascended to the deck. The whipcord retracted into the wrist compartment of the hunched-over figure in hybrid armour. “I am here,” Barriss Offee replied serenely with her lightly accented voice, her eyes blazed like saphires behind the tint of her helmet. In her left arm was the slumped form of Han Solo, and her right hand was over his wound; pulsing with light as his chest heaved with breath.


	11. Crash Down

Part XI: Crash Down  
“Chopper! What’s the damage!” Ahsoka yelled at her astromech. The plummeting Ghost was trying and failing to totally even out of the steep dive they just took. The ramp closed and the air stopped buffeting everything around and settled back to normal. Jessica slumped to the floor of the cargo hold of the Ghost as she processed what just happened. Ahsoka Tano, a legend from the old rebellion days, had plucked her out of the air using her telekinesis in the latter third of a fall from high atmosphere. Wow. Getting her bearings, she noticed that all manner of alarms were blaring. She could make out Ahsoka arguing with her astromech….oh no. Jessika reflexively looked around, which seemed silly a second later, but the look of horror on her face stayed all the same. KT hadn’t managed to get aboard. Allowing herself a moment of grief, Jessika hugged her arms tight around her stomach as she mourned her friend and companion. “Jessika!”  
Jessika’s head bolted upward, equally from surprise and the ship wobbling at high velocity. Brushing the tears away for another moment she climbed the ladder into the main corridor of the medium sized freighter and made her way to the cockpit, but not before noticing that a couple of the doors on either side were shut with a red light above their threshold; the Ghost’s hull integrity had been breeched in multiple places, and there was smoke leaking from under both doors.   
“What can I do to help?” Jessika reported for duty as Ahsoka and Chopper were scrambling around the cockpit trying to regain full control of the ship. Sparks were beginning to fly everywhere as Ahsoka stopped running about and just looked around the cockpit slowly, taking it all it.   
“Strap yourself in, this’ll be a bumpy landing” Ahsoka said calmly, resigned. Jessika obeyed immediately, sitting down in the co-pilot’s seat. Chopper beeped mournfully as he understood Ahsoka’s subtext as well.   
The Ghost began its final descent.  
Jessika looked up at what lay in front of them and shouted, “Look out for those trees!”  
Still Inside the Oscillator Hub  
“Galen, you’ll bleed to death if that’s not cauterised,” Juno pressed urgently as they hurried as much as they could through the corridors towards the hangar the bleeding Starkiller was convinced was just ahead. Galen muttered something about not wasting time on silly injuries.  
Barriss Offee, who looked a tad bit shorter while deftly carrying the significantly taller and heavier form of the unconscious Han Solo, offered her advice as well. Though it was delivered far less tenderly than Juno, “Galen Starkiller!” The blood-soaked clone stopped at her call-out, feeling the temperature around them dip a little as Barriss’ Dark Side flared up in her flash of anger. “You do us no good if you need to be carried as well, I can’t be healing Captain Solo and defending us from storm troopers at the same time, and while Juno could defend us from the front, you would slow us down. You’re only human.” Pausing for a moment, she continued, “You will not be the reason that I don’t see Ahsoka again, understand that.” Though Barriss was speaking through a helmet, and concentrating on preserving Han Solo’s life; in that moment Galen felt her undeniable gaze, understanding that Barriss could end him if she truly felt he so burdensome as to drag her down with him.   
The fully armoured healer turned to Juno sharply, and an understanding passed between them as Barriss nodded at Galen’s stump arm; one that Juno was nearly sick at, but resolved to it all the same. Juno turned to Galen hesitantly. He too, understood and tacitly agreed to Barriss Offee’s plan of action. He tensed up as he extended his right stump, blood falling fast and evenly in heavy drops from the space where his elbow used to be.  
Emerald light illuminated the small corridor as Juno drew her lightsaber and swung it with a surgeon’s accuracy. Juno Eclipse’s modified emerald blade passed through Galen’s arm, just above the flood of red. He hissed as a bone flesh and muscles were burned. Juno extinguished her lightsaber, and hugged him quickly, his face still scrunched in a soundless howl.   
They made it to the hangar with only a few stormtrooper deaths. There were no TIE fighters, but one of them wouldn’t really help them anyway right now; there just wasn’t enough room. “Proxy, we need you to come and pick us up in the hangar bay.” Starkiller spoke into his communicator. There was static, and a great deal of whooshing sounds as Proxy took his time answering his master.   
“I’m sorry Master, I’ve completed the assignment you told me to do, but the Resistance have launched a new attack led by the black X-wing. There’s just too much crossfire happening there right now. Even if I go to you and turn on stealth mode, it’s statistically plausible we would still be crashed into by flying combatants.” Galen swore, knowing they had very little time if it was indeed Dameron leading this final assault. But then his eye caught something, motioning with his one hand Barriss and Juno also spotted what had lifted his spirits and the three of them increased their pace, heading outside onto the tarmac.   
“It’s ok Proxy, stay out of line of fire and get well clear of the planet. We’ll meet you later. And Proxy? Did you retrieve the information?” Galen asked.  
“Of course I did, I’m not an inept protocol droid. I just told you I did. Did you complete your mission Master?” Galen and Juno both grinned despite the situation.   
Juno activated her communicator and said, “Well done Proxy, we’ll see you soon. Don’t hyperspace jump without confirming we got out alive.”  
“Yes Captain!” Proxy replied smartly, not inviting banter with Juno.  
Before they set foot on the ship they had found on the tarmac,   
Barriss readjusted Han Solo as they boarded the ship on the tarmac. Her hand left hand was still administering vital Force healing to his horrific wound, keeping him stable but not really gaining ground on it. But she now put his arm over her own shoulder for greater dexterity. She gasped as the three of them glanced around briefly to get their bearings on this new ship; all sets of eyes were on the sign above a small door off the main cabin, which read MEDICAL BAY. As Barriss heaved Han towards that door, Juno ran into the cockpit and brought the systems online. “Damn, no hyperdrive.” Juno cursed as they began to lift into the air, “wow,” she muttered as the craft handled quite well for its odd appearance. Upon seeing that Juno had things handled in the cockpit, Galen decided to go into the medical bay to see if he couldn’t start mending himself or help Barriss with the captain of the Millennium Falcon. He found to his astonishment Barriss Offee sitting in a luxurious chair, watching Captain Solo bob up and down inside the lone bacta tank; still very much unconscious, but survival guaranteed unless they were shot out of the sky. A bacta tank on a First Order Shuttle! The one-armed clone looked at Barriss with a genuine smile on his face; she removed her helmet lightly grinned back at him. At least for the moment, they were triumphant. Galen realised once his quiet glee had subsided that he shouldn’t be surprised; after all, they were boosting Kylo Ren’s personal Command Shuttle.  
Barriss’ eyes widened, as she again felt that same sensation she had aboard the Rogue Shadow, as her vision shifted from the floating captain to two figures dancing in the snow, blue and scarlet dancing between them.   
This time, Barriss didn’t faint, though Galen and Juno at the helm felt the ripple in the Force. Rushing into the cockpit, Barriss breathed, “We need to get to the forest just south of the compound. Something’s happening there. A lightsaber duel.” Just as the shuttle turned toward the forest, not 10 metres off the ground, the three of them look on in horror as the Ghost plummets out of the sky aflame and crashes into the trees in the direction of the three duellists.


	12. Blue and Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The duel begins...

Part XII: Red and Blue  
The snow was beginning to fall lightly; Finn had learned his lesson on Jakku and had released her arm when they cleared the forest line. They were both heaving for breath. Rey had been streaming tear since Han Solo had been run through and she showed no sign of stopping has her shoulders heaved with sobs and breath in turn. While Finn wasn’t sobbing, he face was definitely frosting with tear trails down his cheeks. He too had lost someone important to him, though at least for him it wasn’t the first time that week, Slip being the first. He looked at Rey, and realised that Han was probably the closes she was ever going to get to a father, and he realised with a pang of grief that he was in the exact same boat with Rey as far as family was concerned.   
Finn and Rey didn’t make it far before they heard the ignition of the red blade. Ben was standing only a few metres from them. For a moment the three of them stood, fire in the sky illuminating their faces with small flashes against the sapphire tint of the snow. Then he spoke, “We aren’t finished yet,” he said, eyes flickering briefly to Rey.   
Finn balked, Rey didn’t hesitate. She moved fast, but Ben moved faster, Rey raised her weapon to finish Chewbacca’s work, before she was lifted backwards and meters into the air and dashed against a tree; her head making a sickening sound as she crashed to the ground.   
“Rey!” Finn yelled, rushing to her side, dropping his blaster to cradle her head in his arms.   
Before Finn could detect any signs of life, the person he knew as Kylo Ren swished his lightsaber through the air behind him. When Finn realised that Rey was probably dead, a calm washed over him. Ben chose this moment to show what he really thought of FN-2187, “TRAITOR!” It was a wounded cry, a challenge, and filled with suffering. Finn didn’t have time to suss out the meaning of Kylo Ren’s emotions, so he turned to face his former superior. There was something emanating from the figure in black, an aura that even Finn noticed. He looked at his far more powerful adversary; his face, though not much older than his own, was livid, accented with the sputtering scarlet light of his cross guard lightsaber. Glancing back at Rey, whose blood now formed a little pool around her head, he took Maz’s lightsaber in both hands, igniting it. The blue hum accompanied the red sputtering, and the two colours illuminated the trees and the ground. Kylo Ren reacted almost immediately, saw his inheritance in front of him, “That lightsaber belongs to me!” Kylo Ren almost gasped. He beat his wound a few times, each time causing pain to course through his body and causing his power to spike each time.   
Finn said something aggressive in reply but it was lost in his lunge at Kylo Ren, which was blocked deftly. He hacked at the Knight of Ren again and again, all of his blows being artfully deflected; though Kylo Ren was not moving quickly, he was relying on his training rather than his own raw strength now. They went back and forth until Finn’s melee training trumped Ren’s wounded form for a split second, glancing his blade across Ren’s upper chest and right shoulder. Ren spun away, grunting, not really phased by the would itself, but capitalizing on the searing pain it left, channelling his moment of weakness into fuel for his Dark Side style.   
Kylo Ren huffed again as he beat his would again and was reeling briefly from the hit. This traitor was able to hurt him? How presumptuous. It was time to end this fight. So that’s what the lone Knight of Ren put Finn on the tree, making use of his cross guard style the younger and arrogant students of Skywalker always mocked him for.   
Rey stirred awake at Finn’s long unadulterated scream of agony, but only rising to her feet as she saw him struck down with a savage swipe across his back from creature without his mask. He fell with another smaller scream as the red blade passed through his back in a savage slash. FINN!! No… Not him too? Rey gasped with misery as she beheld the sight of her first friend splayed out before her in the snow. Kylo Ren had luckily turned his attention to the glint of silver buried in the snow bank several metres away from him, he had turned away from Rey and was reaching for it. “I’ll never touch that thing again!” Rey remembered those words she had practically shouted in fear at Maz Kanata. Han and Finn needed to be avenged. She. She could not let this monster walk away with his life.   
Rey felt her fear transcend anger to hatred for this Ben who had taken her loved ones from her.   
She reached out her hand and called her lightsaber home. She felt rather than heard it cracking against Ben’s face as it whipped past him, feeling a small amount of his blood on the hilt when she caught it, her face and his for one instant in time bearing the identical look of shock. But before Ben regained his composure, she ignited the blade, feeling the grief of her losses tearing he apart inside; her internal suffering matching her tall opponent’s external agony.   
Both of them snarling, leapt towards each other, meeting in a crash of ruby and sapphire. Ben’s coal-coloured cloak and Rey’s indigo coat were flapping equally fiercely in the wind, which was beginning to pick up. They jumped away from each other, Ben’s face displayed horror at Rey’s natural and almost subconscious application of the Force evident in every move she took. Their battle raged for a couple minutes before they broke their sabre lock and both tilted their heads to watch a medium sized freighter ship plummet out of the sky crash to an abrupt stop no more than fifty metres away. Ben quickly regained his focus and began to press his attack, oblivious to the thunderous detonation of the Oscillator hub nearly a mile away at this point. He did however notice a deepening precipice to push Rey back to. He was past caring about Hux and Snoke’s weapon, he never agreed with its use anyway.   
Rey was losing and she could feel it. Her arms and legs had succumbed to the cold, and she couldn’t feel the chill of the wind anymore, only the dull burn of her muscles slowing down; evident in not two but three sluggish stabs at Ben. Ben however also seemed distracted, and Rey could see the bits of hip fragment in his gaping side wound cause blood to track their duel in a staggering trail in the snow. He did however manage to push her to the edge of the widening ravine. He spoke, somewhat desperately, but shockingly sincere, “You need a teacher! I can teach you the ways of The Force!”   
Rey looked at him like he had lost his mind, a teacher? Him? Never… but then it hit her, she had learned from him, everything she knew about the Force was gleaned after an encounter with Ben. “The Force?” She asked, more to herself than anyone. She closed her eyes. “Rey, these are your first steps.” She remembered that old voice, wondered from whom it came, but she realised had taken more steps since then. Rey’s coat was billowing in the wind over the ravine as the ground beneath Rey began to give. Once again, though more powerful than she had ever felt, the Force, it had returned. Not just around her this time, like when she enslaved the guard into helping her or penetrated the stonewall of Ben’s mental barricade. This time she truly connected to the Force. All her hairs rose, her coat flap stopped flapping in the wind, seemingly untethered from nature’s grip and gravity; she opened her eyes a changed woman. And when she looked into Ben’s, she saw for the first time since their first encounter real fear in those wide black orbs of his.   
She pushed him back with strength previously unknown as Ben now struggled to contend with this new invigorated warrior. Though neither duellist noticed it through the clashing of blades and trees felled in their wake; the snow around Rey lifted off the ground. Unperturbed by gravity as she aggressively advanced, began to land palpable hits on her foe.


	13. The Fallen Ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess acclimates to being on the ground...and defying gravity.

**Part XIII: The Fallen _Ghost_**

The fires from the deterioration of the hollow planet felt dim compared to the fire licking at Jess’ heels. Blood was all over her orange and white flight suit from a head wound sustained during the crash. But at least she was alive and conscious. Jess wasn’t sure Ahsoka was either of those things as she lay her down as gently as she could muster in the cold snow away from the blazing _Ghost_. Jess wiped furiously at her eyes, which had begun to tear up from the sudden drop in temperature. She looked down at the prone Tagruda as she felt around for a pulse…she found it! It was surprisingly strong considering the beating Ahsoka took when she shielded Jess from the violence of their crash landing. An excited whirring and beeping took Jess’ attention away from Ahsoka as a damaged astromech whirred at her as it made its way through the snow.

“KT!” The pink sheen of the astromech had taken a beating in the fall from atmosphere, but it looked like the parachute did its job well. The lightly bleeding pilot threw her arms around the droid as it hummed in appreciation. Another beep sounded from the direction of the _Ghost_ as Chopper made his way out of the fires. He was missing one of his little arms, the stump was still sparkling with electricity almost like blood, but he was able to move to the three allies just fine. “Can you signal for help?” Both droids seemed to look at each other before replying that without a working transponder beacon between them, there wasn’t much they could do.

The wind was whipping Jess’ hair around as she looked around for any sign of help. Through the haze of her teary eyes she saw a blur of blue and red with a trail of fallen trees in its wake. _Was that?_ Before she could complete her thought, the loud hum of a descending spacecraft filled her ears. _Kylo Ren’s shuttle!_ She had never seen it _really_ in person before, only in holograms as it left the scenes of bloodshed. She looked around despondently for a gun, a vibro blade, _something_ to defend herself and Ahsoka with. She saw it on Ahsoka’s hip, there were two of them, but she just took the one attached to the right belt loop. A white hiss filled the air as she ignited the blade. It was surprisingly light, which led Jess to grasp it a little tighter so it did not fly from her hands when she engaged in combat with whatever monster emerged from the steaming hiss of the shuttle’s ramp.

The lightsaber shut down in her hand, to her horror, as she found herself being lifted to the side by nothing at all. The first figure to emerge from the shuttle sprinted to Ahsoka, cradling her head and whispering urgently. While the figure’s left hand held Ahsoka’s head, her right ran over the rest of her body methodically, searching for wounds. “You can put the girl down, Barriss, you’re scaring her.” the second figure to emerge drawled as she joined the first figure already drenched in snow. The figure in the vaguely Imperial looking helmet inspecting the fallen Tagruda quickly jerked her right hand vaguely in Jess’ direction and she fell back into gravity’s sweet, not so gentle embrace.

“Who are you people?” Jess asked desperately as the fire from the _Ghost_ was beginning to grow. Jess took stock of the two females, who both wore hybridized Mandalorian armour; one of whom evidently capable of telekinesis. After a quick exchange of names, the one called Captain Eclipse looked toward the source of the blue and red flickers now less than a few hundred metres away.

Once Barriss returned from the inside of the shuttle, she declared that her fallen friend would be fine and that she was only unconscious for the moment. After taking in the relieved breaks in her friends’ postures, Juno set off in the direction of the two duellists, only to be stopped by Barriss’ call of ‘Wait a moment!’ Peering off into the distance, Jess caught sight of the beautiful demon with the blue blade; unfaltering in her savagery; trying her utmost to kill her attacker. “Do we know her?” Jess asked, still mesmerized with the young woman with the sapphire blade as she drove back the figure in black.

Barriss elaborated her stance as the helmeted Juno looked up at her, “Captain, wait. This is _her_ fight.” She gestured with her gleaming durasteel hand toward the combatants. Juno huffed, but acknowledged the truth of the Captain’s sentiment with a short nod. Galen patted her shoulder before looking at something slightly away from the fighters that Jess could not for the life of her make out.

“There’s a third person there.” Galen noticed, with his eyes narrowed. “Barriss, it’s Finn. I can barely sense his presence.” Barriss nodded, understanding that their young ally stood at death’s threshold as she bolted off in a slightly different direction than Rey and her opponent. Jess noticed the thin one-armed man whisper something to the tall woman before following the fully armoured Mandalorian toward their fallen friend who Jess could make out face down in the snow.

The woman disappeared into the shuttle after giving Jess a ‘wait here’ gesture before returning with a modified fire extinguisher. Without much ado, Captain Eclipse entered the _Ghost_ and proceeded to kill the fires that raged there. “Jess! Do you think you could help me transplant the _Ghost_ ’s hyperdrive onto Ren’s shuttle?” She shouted from within, her voice muffled by the fading flames.

            _Transplant_? _Did Kylo Ren not equip his shuttle with… what, an, idiot._ Jess thought as she sounded her positive reply, rubbing her hands together to beat the cold as she stepped back into the belly of the _Ghost._ It took some doing, accessing the compartment, but luckily the violence of the crash and the fires had not lain to waste the old beast’s hyperdrive.

“Okay.” Juno muttered as she began to detach the mechanisms holding the hyperdrive in place.

Jess glanced at the Mandalorian as she asked nervously, “So, are we carrying this out of here Mandalorian?” Captain Eclipse’s head jerked up in surprise at the moniker, rather than the question itself.

“I’m going to use the Force… and you’re going to help me. By the way, neither I nor Barriss are actually Mandalorians by culture or birth; we just happen to have retired Mandalorian friends who independently bequeathed their armours unto us.” She spoke quickly as she was still engrossed in her craft, but her words carried across the short distance to Jess quite clearly.

Jess nodded in understanding at this development, then realised what Juno had actually said, “Use the Force? You? How can I help with that?” Juno actually laughed at the mile-a-minute questions from this much younger girl.

“It should be ready to detach now. I’m going to lift it with the Force, and you’re going to direct it so that it doesn’t clang into anything on our way out. You’re also going to keep me from being consumed by the remaining flames. Are you comfortable with that?”

“…Yes I am” Jess replied after trying to visualize what that this endeavour would look like. “Okay, I’m ready.”


	14. Hope, Renewed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The duel ends, and Starkiller Base explodes.

**Part XIV: Hope, Renewed**

            He was losing his strength. She could feel it. Each of his swings a tad bit weaker than the last. Through the haze of blue and red clouding her perception, she was able to make out the muffled sound of a shuttle landing. Even in the heat of battle she’d be embarrassed if the type of ship making a sound was unidentifiable. “AARGH!” Ben grunted as she made another smoking orange blemish on his chest. It would be over soon.

Rey would end him for killing Han and Finn. The two combatants let out a shout as they both tried to kill the other, and each grabbing the other’s blade hand. They were struggling like that for a while, blue blade and red blade in perfect symmetry. Rey felt her power surge as she physically overpowered Ben and drove his lightsaber into the ground at a steep angle. He was beginning to yell, out of frustration or pain, or both, Rey wasn’t sure, but she managed to break his grip on her arm. He did however manage to redirect her swing from cleaving him in half from shoulder to hip. Unfortunately for Ben, Rey didn’t miss altogether.  

Roughly 20 metres away, Barriss and Galen Starkiller were both hunched over the figure of Finn. Barriss whispered to her one-armed ally, “Take him back to the shuttle, if his heart stops, use the Force to preserve his breathing and blood flow manually; can you do that?” Galen smirked as he nodded at her. He glanced at the grievously injured boy rose from the ground at the urging of Galen’s upwards nod as they both began moving at a slower pace back towards the shuttle since Galen was using his good arm to hoist Finn along. In the distance, he could see Juno and the resistance pilot exit the Knight of Ren’s shuttle, the resistance girl in particular looking particularly pleased and more than a little mystified. She turned toward him and saw something over his back shoulder than made her sprint in their direction. Galen only turned his head when she blew past him.

Barriss was looking at the same thing Jess was, she just had a closer view. The Knight of Ren was trying desperately to crawl away from the girl in sand-coloured garb who now held both lightsabers. Admittedly, he was getting away quite fast due to Force-augmented movements.

Blood for blood. Finn and Han… _This_ _creature had to die._ Rey didn’t realise she was breathing so heavily, she looked down to see both Ben’s right arm and leg smouldering and very much detached laying at her feet as their owner tried his upmost to get away from her. She stalked towards him, blades trailing alongside her feet, cutting through the snow and leaving a clear path of intent scorched into the frozen ground. Ben was only a few metres away now. Rey heard movement behind her, but she didn’t care. She also didn’t care that the snowflakes around her had severed their loyalty to the winds whipping them around, and were now only loyal to the aura of the girl’s power, now framed in dual light.

The fallen Knight of Ren pushed himself up to face her, having come across a felled tree blocking his path. He rocked back and forth for a minute, like a turtle, unable to gain his balance.

Jess had reached the not-Mandalorian Force user, who was also staring at the girl with the sabres, though probably for different reasons. The Force user Barriss, as Juno _had_ mentioned her name to Jess, stuck out a hand, a caution to not step further.

Rey stood still, looking at Ben. Her indigo coat floated behind her, as did her personal army of snowflakes. Her hands were trembling, with too many emotions to name. She couldn’t stop loathing his face, but it hit her, the terror in his eyes was identical to the terror in hers when he removed his mask for her. A pretty face in fear didn’t change his traitorous behaviour, and as he was about to say something, anything. But right then, Rey deliberately dragged-not-slashed the sputtering scarlet sword across his face. And with that, she turned back towards her friends, leaving the bleeding and gutturally howling Knight of Ren in the snow.

The ground split, creating a jagged dive between the two parties. A light came down from above, an evacuation shuttle. A couple troopers and a ginger in uniform retrieved the broken Ben. Well, the troopers retrieved their fallen superior, the pissed off ginger glared at the three women before turning sharply back towards his ship. A few moments later, it took off, leaving the three women alone in the flickering light of the two lightsabers.

“The fight is over child, sheathe your blades,” Bariss spoke softly. Rey looked up at the woman who gave her the indigo coat. Her eyes caught the new woman standing slightly behind the ex-Jedi. She was really pretty… and she was staring at the blades in Rey’s hands before looking up, and their eyes connected.

Rey let the stare linger for a moment, lost, but then reality crashed back into her thoughts, “Finn. Is he, is he dead?” she asked Barriss. There was a flicker from the eyes of the pretty pilot Rey didn’t try to decipher right then.

“No, he–,” Barriss was cut off when the ground between Galen/Finn and the shuttle began to give.

Galen turned back towards Barriss, Rey, and Jessika; “I can’t make that jump!” he shouted at them over the rising wind.

Juno looked at the widening chasm with wide eyes, and dashed into the cockpit. Ahsoka and Han were both on board, along with the two droids, but there was no way that she’d be able to save Finn and Galen along with the other three, who she could see were sprinting towards Galen as the chasm on their side was also extending, creating an ever thinning strip of land, trapping them all. The _Ghost_ gave a groan as it plunged into the abyss. Despite her years of training, tears started to form in her eyes. She’d have to choose.

“Proxy! Where are you? We need you for evac, now!” She shouted into her communicator.

“Aiding the Resistance in their retreat, as it is the tactically intelligent thing to do. They would not have survived this long were it not for my efforts. Though several of them died anyway,” the droid replied nonchalantly. “We are undergoing heavy fire, I could come get you, though it would mean the deaths of Dameron and the rest of Blue Squadron.” He continued in his not quite apathetic tone.

Juno didn’t even have to think about it, “Proxy, I am ordering you to–,” she cut off abruptly as a light shined through the cockpit and descended near where her friends were gathered on their island amid the crumbling abyss. Juno let out a heavy breath as she said much more calmly, “Proxy, negative, I repeat, get Blue Squadron to safety, we’re good.” She shut off communication with the droid as she saw Barriss herd the others onto the _Millennium Falcon_. Both ships lifted off the ground and after a quick exchange over the comms with Chewbacca, both ships engaged their warp drives simultaneously, escaping the planet’s death by seconds.

Aboard the _Millennium Falcon,_ Barriss quickly healed what she could of Finn’s catastrophic injury, but she looked up to a worried Rey, “He will need medical droids to fix his spine, but he will live if our ride home doesn’t jostle him too badly.” Rey let out a long breath as she sat down next to the new pilot. “Wookie!” Barriss called kindly towards the cockpit. He emerged after a few moments, pouting. Barriss waited until she had Rey’s attention as well as Chewbacca’s before saying, “Han Solo is alive. I was waiting for him to fall and immediately started healing him. He’s in a bacta tank on the shuttle with our friends. His injury is severe, but since his heart wasn’t damaged, he should make it.” She spoke slowly, so that they wouldn’t mishear her.

Chewbacca was speechless, he just sort of slouched down into the nearest available seat. When the great Wookie started to cry, Rey slowly walked over to put an arm around him, which he seemed quite grateful for. Barriss looked at Galen and Finn, both of whom were unconscious and horizontal in available rest compartments of the main cabin. Barriss sent the Resistance pilot Jess a meaningful look and nodded toward the cockpit. They had barely made it three steps before Rey shot out a hand and lightly grasped Jessika’s. Jess’ face flushed slightly at the contact, and so did Rey’s, but Rey looked at Jessika with this earnest kindness that allowed her to put these surprise nerves aside. “Sit with me?” Rey asked hesitantly, and Jess was there in a heartbeat. Barriss’ mouth quirked into something resembling a grin and muttered something about checking in on Juno and Ahsoka. Eventually, Chewy muttered something to Rey and she patted his furry bulging shoulder as he lumbered off to his cabin.

Rey and Jessika sat there alone for a few minutes with the tension building up slowly. Rey was nervously thumbing her new lightsabers trying not to stare at the gorgeous pilot siting not two feet away. Jessika was going over the duel in her head, wondering how that ferocious goddess with the coloured blades; who crippled and scarred _Kylo Ren!_ Could possibly be the fidgety adorable girl sitting beside her. That was until Jessika got ahold of herself and exhaled, turning towards the duellist and said, “Hi, I’m Jessika.”

Rey turned to look Jessika in her dark oaken eyes and replied with her signature smile and a definite blush, “Hey, I’m Rey.”


	15. Prequel

Hello All, just a heads up, I've started writing a prequel to this story called Lady Tano, it's not too long now, but I'll be adding more and more to it over the coming months. It'll involve Ahoska and Barriss Offee primarily, while featuring some other familiar faces. It starts a year after Ahsoka's departure from the Jedi, so it's approaching the end of the Clone Wars. If you're interested, check it out please! 

And thank you all again for reading my story to the end, It was an immense pleasure to write. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please give Kudos and/or comment if you're feeling kind, if not, have a nice day anyway. But I'd really appreciate your thoughts... really. And thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed it...
> 
> The prequel to this is up now, but I'm still in the process of writing it....
> 
> Also, if you like femslash works, are probably bored, and enjoy my style, feel free to check out my other stories, in various stages of development.


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